EUGENIE 

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PIERRE 

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DELANO 

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THE  SECRET  OF  AN   E/APIRE 


LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


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PRESENTED  BY 

Mrs.    MacKinley  Helm 


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THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 


•'% 


THE  SECRET  OF  AN  EMPIRE. 


"  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 


BY 

PIERRE   DE   LANO.  C-  l^<fO 


TRANSLATED 

FROM  THE  FRENCH   BY 

ETHELRED  TAYLOR. 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY 

1894 


Copyright,  1894, 

BY 

DoDD,   Mead  &  Company. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PACB 

Preface     7 

Introduction 13 

I.   Her  Marriage 27 

II.   Her  Private  Life 41 

III.  Spiritualism  at  the  Tuileries 78 

IV.  Her  Relation  to  Politics 94 

V.   The  Empress  and  Society 146 

VI.    The  Romance  of  a  Marechal  of  France  .     .     .   163 

VII.  The  Empress  and  Foreign  Affairs 184 

VIII.   Before  the  War  of  1870 200 

IX.   After  Sedan 214 

X.   After  the  Fourth  of  September 225 

XL  The  Restoration  of  the  Empire  in  1870-71.     .  237 
XII.  The  Empress  and  the  Prince  Imperial      .     .     .  258 

5 


PREFACE. 


A  VERY  significant  fact  marks  the  present 
time :  a  large  proportion  of  the  reading  pubHc 
—  or  rather  of  the  pubHc  who  knows  how  to 
read  —  has  lost  its  interest  in  the  novel,  and  is 
turning  with  curiosity  towards  history,  whether 
that  history  borrows  its  interest  from  the  ap^ 
parent  triviality  of  the  chronicle,  or  from  the 
bare  facts  of  documents. 

Of  all  contemporary  situations,  incontestably 
those  which  have  the  greatest  charm,  and  which 
captivate  the  observer  most  completely,  are 
those  connected  with  the  reign  of  Napoleon 
III. ;  and  they  thrill  us  all  the  more  because  of 
the  complete  silence  which,  until  to-day,  has 
enveloped  the  affairs  of  the  Empire.  This 
silence  appears  to  have  been  broken.  The 
time  of  the  Empire  seems  far  distant.  But 
many  who  witnessed  or  were  actors  in  those 
7 


8  PREFACE. 

brilliant  scenes  are  still  living,  and  memoirs, 
souvenirs,  sketches,  anecdotes,  are  now  being 
offered  to  the  legitimate  curiosity  of  the  eager 
public. 

The  characteristic  features  of  the  Empire 
are  growing  more  definite,  and  the  public  turns 
to  this  past  epoch  so  little  known,  as  if  drawn 
thither  by  a  restless  spirit  of  inquiry.  The 
Empire  has  crumbled,  and  silence  —  I  repeat  — 
the  great  silence  of  death,  has  rested  upon  its 
memory.  Like  a  fabulous  meteor,  during  a 
period  of  almost  twenty  years,  it  threw  a 
glamour  over  France,  dazzling  the  eyes  and 
the  minds  of  men,  and  with  a  furnace  blast, 
with  the  titanic  upheaval  of  an  earthquake,  it 
has  been  scattered  to  the  four  winds,  it  has 
disappeared  in  the  darkness,  and  this  colossal 
meteor  has  not  even,  like  a  shooting  star,  left 
in  the  sky  a  shining  streak  of  light. 

Why  this  silence,  why  this  void  '^  This  ques- 
tion is  easily  answered.  Those  who  have  the 
right  to  speak,  those  who  could  speak  with 
authority  of  this  period,  are  silent,  and  deliber- 
ately so. 


PREFACE.  9 

The  Emperor  has  inspired  deep  devotion  and 
sincere  affection.  The  men  who  loved  him, 
faithful  to  his  memory,  would  think  that  they 
were  guilty  of  treachery  if  they  gave  to  the 
public,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  hatred  and  anger 
of  some,  to  the  scepticism  or  raillery  of  others, 
his  strange  personality.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  Empire,  whether 
novelists  or  historians,  lack  the  data  upon 
which  to  build  an  exact  account,  so  that  the 
present  generation  looks  upon  the  twenty  years 
of  the  reign  of  Napoleon  III.  as  upon  a  great 
void. 

An  author,  M.  Emile  Zola,  however,  has  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene,  who,  with  a  talent  bor- 
dering on  genius,  has  attempted,  not  only  to 
reconstruct  in  his  works  the  social  life  which 
was  the  fashion  under  the  Second  Empire,  but 
also  the  character  of  the  different  classes  of 
that  time.  This  man  has  failed.  His  novels 
are  in  no  sense  a  reflection  of  the  period  of  the 
Empire.  They  reveal  neither  its  grandeur,  nor 
its  foUies,  nor  its  worldliness,  nor  its  love  affairs, 
all   of   which  gave  it  a  peculiar  aspect.     They 


lO  PREFACE. 

contain  no  true  echo  of  the  life  at  that  time, 
and  in  their  plebeian  solemnity  or  their  popular 
majesty,  they  offer  only  indistinct  and  very 
stereotyped  outlines  of  the  people  and  customs 
of  the  past.  His  ignorance  of  men  and  women 
shows  itself  in  every  page  of  his  works,  and 
they  are  without  that  social  movement  which 
the  reader  to-day  expects  to  find  in  any  work 
which  treats  of  the  Second  Empire. 

To  throw  a  few  clods  of  earth  into  this 
chasm  which  yawns  between  us  and  this  period, 
and  so  help  to  fill  it,  has  seemed  to  me  a  task 
worth  undertaking.  Others  will  doubtless  come 
after  me  who  will  do  it  better.  If  the  pages 
which  I  offer  to  the  public  to  -  day  have  any 
merit,  this  merit,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  so, 
lies  entirely  in  their  veracity,  in  the  scrupulous 
exactness  of  the  facts,  serious  or  frivolous, 
which  they  relate.  They  have  been  communi- 
cated to  me  by  former  favourites  at  the  Tui- 
leries,  known  or  unknown  colleagues  of  Napo- 
leon ;  they  are  strewn  with  anecdotes  and  with 
authentic  facts  not  heretofore  published ;  they 
are  composed  from  notes  on  the  intimacies  of 


PREFACE.  II 

the  Tuileries,  written  by  impartial  hands,  and 
which,  taken  together  with  the  more  important 
facts  of  my  narrative,  are  worthy  of  notice. 
In  what  concerns  history  or  poHtics  no  source, 
indeed,  should  be  neglected,  and  the  sketch  of 
men  in  their  intimate  relations  as  well  as  the 
simple  statement  of  facts,  often  contains  much 
that  is  of  interest.  The  Empress  Eugenie 
and  the  Emperor  Napoleon  are  strangely  un- 
known to  our  generation.  The  Empress  espe- 
cially is  looked  upon  by  us  moderns,  as  a  light 
vapour  which  one  day  was  lit  up  by  the  sun,  and 
which  one  night  disappeared  in  a  thunder-storm. 
Those  who  on  the  day  of  her  downfall  were 
ten  years  old,  and  who  to-day  are  thirty,  repre- 
sent her  as  a  beautiful  coquette,  as  a  picture 
of  a  frivolous  woman  in  bright  and  showy 
colours.  The  Empress  was  not  only  what  she 
is  made  out  to  be  by  writers  who  either  praise 
or  blame  her  unduly,  but  she  was  something 
more.  Twenty  years  have  elapsed  since  she 
left  France ;  twenty  years  have  surrounded  her, 
if  not  with  peace,  at  least  with  the  calm  of 
history.     The  time  has  come   to   speak.     She 


12  PREFACE. 

who  was  adored  is  an  exile ;  she  who  was 
light-hearted  has  become  austere.  Traditions 
have  arisen  about  her,  and  in  the  midst  of  these 
the  Empress  looms  uncertain  as  a  phantom. 
She  is  far  removed  from  the  worldliness  and 
pomp  which  were  formerly  hers ;  she  is  far 
from  the  intrigues  of  love  and  politics  with 
which  she  amused  herself ;  far  from  the  foolish 
men  and  women  who  surrounded  her,  and  who 
crowded  into  the  Tuileries  as  if  it  were  a  fertile 
field  of  golden  grain,  as  if  it  were  an  Eden  in 
which  life  was  happier,  which  was  full  of  dreams, 
free  from  cares  and  stormy  morrows.  The  men 
and  women  are  far  distant  who  used  to  come 
towards  her  laughing,  dancing,  singing,  making 
merry,  and  praising  her  to  the  stars.  The 
stars  are  hidden.  Those  which  shone  in  the 
firmament  in  honour  of  Caesar  and  his  com- 
panion no  longer  shine.  The  time  of  destruc- 
tion and  mourning  has  come,  and  we  say  in 
the  sad,  sweet  words  of  the  poet,  — 
"  OCi  sont  les  neiges  d'antan  ?  " 

Pierre  de  Lano. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  preceding  pages  were  written  at  the 
time  when  I  pubHshed  in  the  Figaro  a.  few  ex- 
tracts from  the  present  volume  on  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  As  I  then  offered  to  my  readers  in 
support  of  my  statements  unpublished  docu- 
ments, and  letters  from  either  ministers  or 
ambassadors,  or  from  members  of  the  imperial 
family  who  habitually  surrounded  Napoleon 
III.  and  his  wife,  I  had  reason  to  believe  that 
my  narrative  would  be  received  without  protest, 
and  that  no  voice  would  be  raised  in  an  attempt 
to  weaken  the  force  of  my  disclosures.  I  was 
wrong.  A  newspaper,  the  Gaulois,  answered 
each  of  my  arguments — containing,  I  will  not 
say  an  attack  on  the  Empress,  but  proofs  of  hdt- 
bad  influence  on  the  politics  of  the  Empire,  and 
on  the  customs  of  the  court  —  by  an  article 
which  made  a  painful  effort  to  restore,  in  favour 
13 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  fallen  sovereign,  false  traditions  which 
must  crumble  away  before  history. 

This  defence,  whose  false  simplicity  could 
only  have  been  inspired  by  some  deep-laid  plot, 
having  been  brought  to  my  notice,  I  did  not 
think  worth  while  to  answer,  preferring  to 
wait  for  the  freedom  of  a  book  to  expose  its 
worthlessness  to  the  public. 

I  must  add  that  this  attack  upon  me  was  very 
unskilful :  and  those  who  made  it  will  doubt- 
less regret  having  done  so. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  write  a  volume  on 
the  Empress  Eugenie.  I  meant  to  confine  my 
narrative  to  a  few  pages  of  a  pamphlet,  and, 
with  a  feeling  of  pity,  to  consign  to  darkness 
and  silence  certain  historical  facts  which  bear 
directly  on  the  wife  of  Napoleon  III.,  and  the 
responsibility  of  which,  in  spite  of  her  flatterers, 
rests  entirely  on  herself. 

The  attack  of  the  Gaulois  prevents  me  from 
remaining  longer  silent,  and  compels  me  to 
state  the  facts,  whether  good  or  bad,  in  regard 
to  the  Empress  Eugenie.  After  all,  does  she 
not  belong  to  history  ? 


INTRODUCTION.  1$ 

Why  dissemble,  or  why  destroy,  by  an  im- 
posed silence,  the  tie  which  binds  her  to  the 
destinies  of  France  ?  Why  set  aside,  in  what 
concerns  her,  the  impartial  judgment  of  time, 
from  which  the  queens  who  have  preceded  her 
at  the  Tuileries  have  not  been  exempt  ? 

The  Empress  has  been  cruelly  criticised  in 
her  public  life,  as  well  as  in  her  affections  of 
wife  and  mother.  Doubtless  this  is  true.  But 
is  this  a  reason  for  protecting  her  from  facing 
the  truth,  even  in  her  sorrow,  even  in  her  fall } 
I  think  not. 

Has  not  the  war  of  1 870,  which  she  instigated, 
left  in  its  wake  wives  and  mothers  whose  grief 
is  great  and  whose  memories  are  drowned  in 
tears  .-*  And  can  there  be  found,  in  any  part  of 
the  world,  do  we  find  here,  a  writer  to  bemoan 
in  poetry  or  prose  the  sorrow  of  these  women 
who,  albeit  they  were  not  empresses,  are  no  less 
worthy  of  our  sympathy  and  of  our  solicitude  } 

I  realise  all  the  folly  of  such  a  discussion  ;  so 
I  will  leave  it,  and  taking  up  one  by  one  the 
articles  in  the  Gaulois,  I  will  answer  them. 

Under  date  of  the  22d  of  September,  1890, 


1 6  INTRODUCTION. 

with  this  heading,  "  The  truth  in  regard  to  the 
departure  of  the  Prince  Imperial  for  Zukiland," 
the  Gaiilois  gives  us  an  account  of  an  interview 
which  the  prince  had  with  his  mother  a  few 
days  before  his  departure.  This  interview  is 
purely  imaginary,  and  might  be  a  chapter  of  a 
most  romantic  novel.  The  prince  had  but  one 
desire,  to  get  away  from  this  mother  who  did 
not  understand  him,  to  cut  loose  from  her 
absurd  guardianship,  which  made  him  ridiculous 
in  the  eyes  of  the  young  men  of  his  age  and  of 
his  world,  and  to  go  across  the  sea  to  win  that 
independence  which  was  denied  to  him  at  home. 
In  need  of  affection,  in  need  of  money,  robbed 
even  of  an  inheritance  which  had  come  to  him 
from  a  relative,  watched  and  lectured  like  a 
naughty  child  —  he  had  a  horror  of  his  home,  and 
he  preferred  to  risk  his  future  in  a  doubtful  ad- 
venture, rather  than  spend  his  youth,  full  of 
life,  intelligence,  and  goodness,  in  petty  cavil- 
ling with  the  Empress. 

These  are  the  facts.  They  are  well  known 
by  all  those  who  were  near  the  Prince  Impe- 
rial, and  those  who  deny  them  try  to  deceive 


INTRODUCTION.  1 7 

France,  where  the  prince  was  loved,  —  "  Le  petit 
Prince,"  as  he  was  called,  —  and  falsify  history, 
which  asks  for  facts  and  not  fables. 

On  the  4th  of  October,  1 890,  under  the  title, 
"  The  fable  of  Yung  and  its  sequence  at  the 
Court  of  Napoleon  III.,"  the  Gaulois,  taking 
up  the  article  which  I  had  just  published  in 
the  Figaro,  reproduces  the  same  facts  which 
had  been  previously  set  forth  by  me.  But,  dis- 
torting my  account  and  giving  a  different  ver- 
sion of  it,  it  places  the  adventure  of  Home  in 
i860,  in  order  to  prove  its  case  and  to  rep- 
resent that  the  Empress  asked  the  celebrated 
medium  to  allow  her  to  press  the  hand  of  her 
dead  sister,. the  Duchesse  d'Albe. 

Moreover,  the  appearance  of  Home  and  not 
Yung  at  the  Tuileries  was  in  1857,  and  as  at 
that  time  the  Duchesse  d'Albe  was  still  living, 
the  Empress  could  not  have  made  the  demand 
in  question,  of  the  spirits. 

The  letters  which  I  have  published  on  this 
subject  and  which  date  from  September,  1857, 
and  which  are  all  written  by  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  give   abundant  proof   of    the 


1 8  INTRODUCTION. 

veracity  of  my  statements,  and  demonstrate, 
moreover,  that  this  American  owed  his  success 
at  court  entirely  to  the  Empress.  Farther  on 
the  same  paper,  in  relating  the  discomfiture  of 
Home,  taken  at  Biarritz  in  flagrante  delicto  for 
jugglery,  informs  us  that  the  Emperor  himself 
helped  his  discomfiture.  But  Napoleon  III. 
that  very  evening  was  at  Stuttgart,  holding  the 
famous  interview  with  the  Emperor  of  Russia. 
He  could  not  at  the  same  time  be  taking  Home 
to  task  at  Biarritz,  A  letter  from  M,  Rothan, 
who  was  then  the  private  secretary  of  the 
French  legation  at  Stuttgart — the  very  one 
from  which  I  quote  in  this  book  —  leaves  no 
doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  my  statements. 
On  the  22d  of  October,  1890,  the  Gaulois, 
under  the  head  of  "  M.  Emile  Ollivier  at  the 
Tuileries,"  wrote  the  following  lines  which  con- 
cerned me  personally,  since  I  was  the  only  per- 
son at  that  time  who  had  given  to  the  public 
any  account  of  the  Second  Empire.  "  Apart 
from  facts  made  incontestable  by  their  conse- 
quences, by  the  archives  which  remain  to  us, 
how  can  we  accredit  any  absolute  certainty  to 


INTRODUCTION.  1 9 

historical  traditions,  when  we  see  contemporary 
events  travestied  with  a  skill  and  talent  which 
would  make  us  doubt  truth  itself  ? " 

A  man  must  certainly  possess  great  audacity 
to  make  such  an  attack  on  an  author,  after  hav- 
ing himself  published  the  historic  untruths  to 
which  I  have  just  referred. 

I  would  like  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Gau- 
lois  to  the  fact  that  I  claim  neither  skill  nor 
talent  in  composing  my  narrative,  —  he  used 
these  words  in  a  derogatory  sense,  —  but  that 
I  am  satisfied  to  remain  independent  so  as  to 
retain  the  right  to  be  impartial. 

I  would  also  like  to  call  the  attention  of  my 
critic  to  the  fact  that  history  wants  facts  and  is 
not  made  up  of  cuttings  from  newspapers,  nor 
of  pretty  fables  composed  to  give  pleasure  to 
those  who  have  played  an  important  public 
role  in  life.  Moreover,  I  shall  be  very  curi- 
ous to  see  how  the  Gaulois  will  undertake  to 
invalidate,  after  this,  the  letters  of  personages 
named  below,  and  to  persist  in  its  denunciations, 
as  in  its  affected  goodwill.  But  I  should  never 
get  through  with  this  paper  if  I  were  obliged 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

to  expose  all  its  errors.  I  will  only  mention 
one  more  incident  before  closing  a  controversy 
which  has  been  thrust  upon  me. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  of  the  charity,  of  the 
generosity,  of  the  Empress,  and  of  her  constant 
maternal  solicitude  for  those  who  served  her  at 
the  time  of  her  power,  and  who  have  since  been 
overcome  by  poverty,  even  by  want. 

Now,  would  the  reader  like  to  know  the  ex- 
tent of  this  solicitude,  of  this  generosity,  of 
this  charity,  which,  in  any  case,  whether  false 
or  real,  so  far  as  it  has  to  do  with  strangers, 
might  well  have  been  expended  on  the  poor 
little  Prince  Imperial .''  Read,  then,  the  follow- 
ing letters,  which  came  into  my  hands  at  the 
time  when  I  published  a  few  extracts  from  this 
book.  They  will  determine  the  reader's  opinion, 
without  any  necessity  for  a  long  commentary. 

Sir  :  —  Having  formerly  been  in  the  employ  of  the 
Emperor,  I  always  read  with  interest  whatever  bears  on 
the  events  which  occurred  at  the  Tuileries.  I  will  tell 
you  at  once,  without  any  mental  reservation,  that  the 
Empress  Eugdnie  can  never  be  sufficiently  punished  for 
the  wrong  she  has  done  to  this  country,  as  well  as  to  her 
old  servants,  to  whom  she  has  never  given  a  thought. 

She  still  has,  however,  sufficient  wealth  to  do  some- 


INTRODUCTION.  2 1 

thing,  at  least,  for  those  who  served  the  Emperor  with  so 
much  devotion;  but  no,  not  a  thought,  not  a  memory 
even,  has  she  for  them.  Yes,  we  believed  in  and  loved 
the  Emperor  and  the  Prince  Imperial,  but  we  were  sure 
we  would  be  forgotten  by  the  Empress,  as  we  have  been. 
Since  1870,  a  small  capital,  given  with  kind  feeling, 
could  have  made  long  since  an  income  which  might 
have  relieved  a  few  unfortunate  and  faithful  servants. 

Sir  :  —  Doubtless  the  Empress  did  a  great  deal  for 
many  ungrateful  ones,  and  I  believe  her  character  is 
well  shown  in  what  you  say  of  her.  She  was,  indeed, 
something  of  a  comedian  in  what  she  did,  a  little  exag- 
gerated ;  as,  for  instance,  when  in  the  Chinese  Museum 
at  Fontainebleau,  she  went  to  the  smoking-room  with 
her  ladies  to  smoke  a  few  cigarettes ;  but  this,  certainly, 
was  no  crime.  What  little  shopkeeper  but  has  some 
such  diversion  ? 

As  to  her  heart,  it  was  not  of  the  best  for  a  woman  in 
her  position ;  there  was  no  necessity  for  her  to  look  into 
everything,  even  to  the  extent  of  interfering  with  the 
sovereigns  and  strangers  who  came  to  court,  and  to  for- 
bid them  to  offer  to  her  servants  any  fees ;  and  yet  this 
is  what  she  did. 

When  she  went  travelling,  she  spent  a  great  deal  in 
trying  to  surpass  every  one  in  her  bounty,  but  always 
with  a  desire  to  appear  more  generous  than  any  one 
else.  To-day,  if  the  Empress  ever  has  any  idea  of  doing 
any  good  to  her  subjects,  those  who  surround  her  pre- 
vent her  from  doing  so.  It  is  known  that  the  Emperor 
intended  to  pension  his  attendants.  If  he  did  not  do  it, 
the  Empress  and  those  about  her  are  responsible.  For 
my  part,  shortly  after  the  4th  of  September,  I  found  a 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

situation,  which,  thank  God,  has  kept  me  from  want; 
but  others  were  not  so  fortunate. 

I  was  devoted  to  their  Majesties;  but  when  I  see  how 
little  they  have  done  for  their  servants,  my  devotion  is 
somewhat  lessened. 

A  third  letter  also  throws  some  light  on  the 
maternal  affection  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  and 
represents  her  just  as  I  have  shown  her  to  be 
in  character,  as  well  as  in  her  relation  to  certain 
political  questions. 

Sir  :  —  ...  Concerning  the  Prince  Imperial,  upon 
occasion  of  a  great  demonstration  of  affection,  she  would 
suddenly  show  a  reserve  which  was  almost  icy.  When 
the  Prince  happened  to  be  present  at  dinner,  sitting  at 
the  Emperor's  right,  and  dessert  would  be  offered  him, 
he  would  first  observe  whether  his  mother  was  looking, 
and  in  that  case  would  take  but  little,  because  she  objected 
to  his  having  sweetmeats.  The  Emperor  often  laughed 
at  this  little  comedy. 

The  young  Prince,  without  doubt,  was  more  petted  by 
his  father.  The  Empress  always  assumed  towards  him 
an  air  of  great  severity,  and  unfortunately  it  was,  as  you 
say,  this  lack  of  tenderness  which  was  one  of  the  causes 
which  determined  the  poor  young  Prince  to  leave  home, 
happy  to  be  free  from  such  exacting  restraint. 

Proportionately  as  the  Emperor  was  good  to  the  boy 
and  loved  him  dearly,  the  Empress  was  harsh  with  him. 
He  did  not  feel  at  his  ease  in  her  presence.  I  can  still 
see  the  Prince  at  Compi^gne  in  1869.  It  was  one  night 
at  the  theatre  and  they  were  playing  "  La  Consigne  est 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

de  Ronfler."  At  the  part  where  the  ordinary  is  taken 
with  a  colic,  the  Prince  laughed  so  heartily  that  all  near 
him  were  more  amused  at  him  than  they  were  at  the 
play.  The  Emperor  was  made  doubly  happy  that  night 
in  seeing  his  son  so  gay. 

The  Princess  Mathilde  was  there,  near  the  child,  and 
she  will  recall  this  circumstance. 

I  said  to  myself,  as  many  others  doubtless  did,  it  is 
evident  that  the  Empress  is  away.  She  was,  in  fact,  at 
Suez. 

In  regard  to  the  defence  of  the  temporal  power  of  the 
Pope,  and  the  inconsistency  of  the  Empress,  I  will 
relate  here  an  anecdote.  It  was  at  Saint-Cloud,  before 
the  events  of  Mentana.  General  Failly  had  called  to 
receive  his  final  instructions  from  the  Emperor,  who  had 
kept  him  to  breakfast.  But  lo,  and  behold,  at  table, 
in  chatting  with  the  Empress,  he  said  that  he  was  to 
take  the  train  at  Lyons  at  such  a  time,  to  arrive  at  Mar- 
seilles with  his  division.  Whereupon  the  Empress  ex- 
claimed, "  But,  General,  you  will  miss  your  train,  you 
must  hurry  off ;  you  barely  have  time  to  reach  the 
station  !  "  In  vain  he  pleaded  that  with  the  mail  coach, 
which  was  at  his  command,  there  would  be  no  delay ; 
he  was  obliged  against  his  will  to  leave  before  he  had 
finished  his  breakfast,  having  received  permission  to 
take  with  him  a  piece  of  bread  and  meat,  which  he 
laughingly  devoured  on  his  way  down-stairs. 

Another  fact:  in  1859,  after  Magenta,  M.  Klein  de 
Klenemberg,  an  ordinary,  was  ordered  by  the  Emperor 
to  bring  to  Paris  the  flags  taken  from  the  enemy.  But 
on  his  arrival,  instead  of  reporting  at  once  at  Saint- 
Cloud,  he  went  home  to  make  his  toilet,  so  as  to  be  pre- 
sentable to  appear  before  the  Empress. 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

When  he  was  admitted  to  her  Majesty's  presence,  he 
was  not  received  as  he  expected.  The  Empress,  scan- 
ning him  from  head  to  foot,  said :  "  It  is  easy  to  see 
from  your  costume,  sir,  that  you  come  from  Italy.  You 
neither  smell  of  powder  nor  of  the  dust  of  the  battlefield. 
When  a  man  has  the  honour  of  bringing  such  splendid 
trophies,  he  should  present  himself  at  any  hour  and  in 
any  costume." 

She  was  probably  alluding  to  those  officers  of  former 
times,  who  would  travel  any  distance  and  present  them- 
selves covered  with  mud  and  dust,  after  having  ridden 
down  several  horses.  Such  a  scene  would  have  been 
a  little  theatrical. 

It  would  certainly  be  unwise  to  attach  to 
these  different  letters  undue  importance.  How- 
ever, one  fact  cannot  be  denied ;  they  were 
written  by  old  servants  of  the  Tuileries,  who  all 
express  for  the  Emperor  and  his  son  a  profound 
admiration  and  deep  gratitude.  Why  do  they  not 
express  similar  sentiments  for  the  Empress  } 
It  is  allowable  to  think  that  if  the  latter  had 
been  as  kind  as  Napoleon  III.,  the  same  homage 
which  is  given  to  the  dead  Emperor  —  who  is 
consequently  far  from  all  affection  and  friend- 
ship —  would  go  out  as  spontaneously  to  her. 

I  have  been  stupidly  attacked  —  I  have  an- 
swered the  attack.     And  now  a  last  word.     It 


INTRODUCTION.  2$ 

was  claimed  at  the  time  of  the  publication  of 
some  chapters  of  this  book  in  the  Figaro,  that  I 
was  writing  under  an  assumed  name,  and  even 
that  I  did  not  exist. 

I  wish  to  inform  those  who  have  been  inter- 
ested in  me,  and  who  will  be  farther  disturbed 
by  the  publication  of  this  volume,  that  I  do  exist. 
I  have  no  nom  de  plume,  and  I  alone  am  respon- 
sible for  this  work  which  I  offer  to  my  readers, 

P.   DE    L. 
Paris,  January,    1891. 


THE   EMPRESS   EUGENIE. 


HER    MARRIAGE. 

Less  than  a  year  after  the  proclamation  of 
the  Empire,  Napoleon  III.  led  to  the  altar 
of  Notre  Dame,  Mile.  Eugenie  de  Montijo ; 
and  in  making  her  the  Empress  of  France, 
fulfilled  the  promise  which  he  had  made  some 
time  before. 

This  marriage,  which  gave  rise  to  so  much 
gossip,  to  so  much  excitement,  and  to  so  many 
intrigues,  led  one  of  the  most  prominent  states- 
men of  that  time  to  make  a  remark  which  may 
have  been  forgotten. 

While  every  one  was  saying  of  Napoleon 
III.,  "  He  is  mad ;  this  union  is  a  folly ! "  the 
statesman"  in  question  summed  up  the  situation 
without  anger  and  without  bitterness;  and  with- 
out himself  suspecting  it,  perhaps,  gave  a  psy- 
chological epitome  of  the  Second  Empire,  in  its 
present  and  future  history,  in  the  following 
words :  — 

27 


2$  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

"This, marriage,"  he  said  with  a  smile,  *'is  a 
lovely  poem  !  "  And  then  added,  "  The  Empe- 
ror rivals  M.  de  Musset ;  and  his  reign,  I  fear, 
will  be  but  '  the  song  of  a  night.' " 

If  this  is  not  a  just  appreciation  from  the 
point  of  view  of  history,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  it  is  not  without  interest  to  the  chronicler. 

On  the  30th  of  January,  1853,  Napoleon  III. 
married  Mile,  de  Montijo,  with  a  haste  which  was 
little  understood  by  those  who  surrounded  him, 
and  less  understood  by  those  who  with  curiosity 
question  the  past.  The  Emperor  was  a  sen- 
timentalist ;  but  we  shall  not  find  in  his  senti- 
mentality the  reason  for  his  haste  in  marrying 
Mile,  de  Montijo.  Very  susceptible  to  feminine 
charm,  and  accustomed  to  having  his  desires 
satisfied,  he  happened  to  fall  in  love  with  Mile. 
de  Montijo  ;  and  as  she  was  the  only  woman  he 
had  ever  loved  or  seemed  to  love  who  allowed 
him  no  liberties,  but  continually  kept  him  at  a 
distance,  in  order  to  gain  his  end  he  vowed  he 
would  marry  her,  without  thinking  of  political 
consequences. 

It  is  also  easy  to  believe  that,  after  the 
dramatic  events  which  had  marked  both  his 
Presidency  and  his  advent  to  the  throne,  the 
Emperor  felt  the  need  of  domestic  peace,  of  a 
sincere  affection  which  would  bring  an  element 


HER  MARRUGE.  29 

of  joy  into  his  life.  This  affection  might  have 
been  given  him  by  a  different  woman  from  Mile, 
de  Montijo,  by  some  woman  worthy  by  birth 
to  be  his  wife ;  but  I  repeat,  the  Emperor  did 
not  love  a  king's  daughter ;  he  loved  an  humble 
daughter  of  Spain,  and  he  listened  only  to  the 
promptings  of  his  heart.  Afterwards,  when 
years  had  made  this  folly  a  distant  memory, 
did  he  regret  this  outbreak  of  a  passion  which 
interested  and  perplexed  all  Europe .''  No  one 
can  tell.  He  evidently  took  into  account,  as 
any  man  would  who  weighs  his  love  in  the  bal- 
ance, the  difficulties  which  that  union  brought 
into  his  reign. 

But  he  was  good,  he  was  gallant,  and  he  was 
a  fatalist  ;  so  he  never  complained,  he  never 
wounded  the  heart  of  the  Empress  by  any  allu- 
sion whatever  to  what  his  friends  called  his 
folly. 

Mile,  de  Montijo  was  a  Spaniard,  and,  being 
such,  was  superstitious.  One  day,  when  quite 
a  young  girl,  while  out  walking,  she  had  met  a 
gypsy,  who  in  return  for  alms  told  her  her  for- 
tune, and  declared  that  she  would  be  a  queen. 

Although  she  appeared  to  have  attached  but 
little  importance  to  this  prediction,  even  after 
her  marriage,  it  is  certain  that  the  gyp.sy's 
words  had  made  an  impression  ;  so  that,  having 


30  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

had  opportunities  to  marry  the  highest  digni- 
taries of  her  own  country,  first  the  Due  d'Os- 
suna,  who  had  asked  her  for  her  hand,  next  the 
Due  de  Sesto,  then  Due  d'Alcanizes,  with  whom 
she  was  evidently  taken,  she  refused  the  offer 
of  the  first,  and  silenced  her  own  heart,  which 
was  in  favor  of  the  second.  Feigning  a  great 
sympathy  for  France  and  the  French,  she  de- 
clared her  intention  to  marry  no  one  but  a 
Frenchman  ;  and  without  much  fear  of  making 
a  mistake,  we  may  suppose  that,  once  settled  in 
France,  face  to  face  with  the  bachelor  Emperor, 
whom  she  had  been  able  to  meet,  she  remem- 
bered the  prediction  of  the  gypsy,  as  well  as 
the  lovers,  who,  from  a  worldly  standpoint  or 
from  her  own  inclination,  she  might  have  chosen, 
but  whom  she  scorned. 

On  his  part,  since  the  second  of  December 
the  Emperor  had  not  been  without  opportunities 
of  an  alliance  appropriate  to  the  rank  which  he 
had  assumed. 

Certain  young  women  who  had  rejected  his 
attentions  and  his  courtship  when  he  was  only 
a  prince  and  something  of  an  adventurer,  such 
as  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton,  daughter  of  the 
Grand  Duchess  Stephanie  de  Bade,  his  cousin, 
such  as  the  Princess  Mathile,  also  his  cousin, 
were  not  without  regrets  at  this  time.     The  ad- 


HER  MARRIAGE.  3^ 

venturer  now  had  a  crown  in  each  hand,  one 
for  himself,  the  other  for  her  whom  he  should 
make  his  wife. 

When  he  was  only  the  Prince-President,  the 
daughter  of  the  Prince  de  Wagram  had  been 
offered  to  him,  and  at  a  house  in  the  rue  de  la 
Rochefoucauld,  the  residence  of  Prince  Wagram, 
a  ball  had  been  proposed  in  honour  of  Louis 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  to  arrange  the  prelimi- 
naries of  a  marriage.  The  President  accepted 
the  invitation  of  his  host,,  and  went  to  the  ball 
given  in  his  honour.  But  the  young  girl  did  not 
please  him.  Was  he  perhaps  already  in  love } 
Who  knows .-'  And  having  withdrawn,  and  never 
returning,  the  project  ended  there.  Later  he 
wished  to  marry  Mile.  Wagram  to  the  Prince 
Jerome  Napoleon  ;  but  her  father's  answer  was 
short  :  "  I  would  have  given  my  daughter,"  he 
said,  "  to  the  Prince-President ;  but  I  refuse  to 
give  her  to  his  cousin."  There  is  pride  in  these 
words.  But,  alas !  do  they  not  complete  the 
fable  of  the  Heron  1 

The  Prince  de  Wagram,  in  fact,  gave  his 
daughter's  hand  a  short  time  after  this  incident 
to  the  Prince  Joachim  Murat, 

The  most  important  alliance,  from  a  political 
standpoint,  that  was  talked  of  for  Napoleon  III., 
is  without  doubt  that  which  was  attempted  with 
the  house  of  Prussia. 


32  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

There  was  some  question  of  an  alliance  be- 
tween the  Emperor  and  the  Princess  of  Hohen- 
zollern,  sister  of  the  famous  prince  of  that  name 
who  cost  us  the  war  of  1 870. 

What  determines  the  destiny  of  nations  ?  If 
he  had  been  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Prince 
Leopold  of  Hohenzollern,  it  is  certain  that 
Napoleon  III.  would  not  have  been  interested 
in  the  affairs  of  Spain,  and  that  the  catastrophe 
which  laid  us  low  would  never  have  existed. 
But  what  is  theuse  toTecriminate  and  to  discuss 
what  might  have  been  } 

The  hearts  of  kings,  as  well  as  those  of  ordi- 
nary men,  are  at  the  mercy  of  a  beautiful  face. 
La  P^ontaine's  saying,  "  Love,  Love,  when  you 
hold  us  in  your  grasp,  it  is  time  to  say,  farewell, 
Prudence  !  "  is  true  for  all  men,  and  no  man  is 
the  master  of  his  instincts,  of  his  destiny.  The 
marriage  of  the  Emperor  with  Mile,  de  Montijo 
was  not  concluded  without  difficulty,  and  the 
disagreement  to  which  it  gave  rise  between 
Napoleon  III.  and  his  uncle,  the  old  Jerome,  is 
well  known. 

Mile,  de  Montijo  was  extremely  beautiful,  with 
regular  features  and  dark  auburn  hair,  which  she 
coloured  artificially.  The  Emperor  fell  in  love 
with  her  at  first  sight,  and  did  not  conceal  his 
sentiments. 


HER  MARRIAGE.  33 

Mile,  de  Montijo,  invited  with  her  mother  to 
the  hunt  at  Compiegne,  fascinated  him  still  more 
by  the  grace  with  which  she  rode. 

The  Emperor,  an  admirable  horseman,  loved 
instinctively  every  one,  whether  man  or  woman, 
who  rode  well.  What  tales  have  been  told  of 
the  sojourn  of  the  future  empress  at  Compiegne  ? 
But  why  reproduce  them  here,  even  though  it 
be  to  deny  them  } 

I  wish,  however,  to  recall  one  incident,  be- 
cause it  has  been  mentioned  by  a  man  of  talent, 
who  is  one  of  our  best  writers,  M.  de  Goncourt. 

M.  de  Goncourt,  being  one  night  in  a  car- 
riage, had  in  front  of  him  an  old  man,  —  it  was 
the  day  after  the  declaration  of  war,  I  believe, — 
who  was  speaking  of  the  Emperor,  and  was  tell- 
ing the  story  of  his  marriage,  pretending  to 
have  had  the  anecdote  from  de  Morny,  to  whom 
Napoleon  III.  had  himself  confided  it. 

One  day  —  this  is  M.  de  Goncourt's  story  as 
told  him  by  the  traveller  —  the  Emperor  asked 
Mile,  de  Montijo  in  a  tone  of  entreaty  whether 
she  had  ever  had  a  serious  attachment. 

Mile,  de  Montijo  answered,  "  I  would  deceive 
you,  sire,  if  I  did  not  confess  that  my  heart  has 
been  touched,  indeed,  several  times  ;  but  I  can 
assure  you  of  one  thing,  that  is,  that  I  am  still 
Mile,  de  Montijo." 


34  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

After  this  avowal,  the  Emperor  had  said, 
"  Well,  then,  mademoiselle,  you  shall  be  Em- 
press." 

The  anecdote  may  be  true  or  false.  No  one 
will  either  affirm  or  question  its  authenticity. 
Such,  however,  as  the  Empress  is  represented 
to  be  by  the  notes  in  my  possession  would  lead 
me  to  think  it  probable.  In  that  case  we  can- 
not tell  which  to  admire  most,  the  simplicity  of 
this  lover  before  whom  at  this  time  the  whole 
world  trembled,  or  the  brutal  frankness  of  the 
maiden  on  whose  brow,  as  in  a  dream,  a  diadem 
was  descending. 

Having  set  aside  all  the  objections  made  by 
his  relatives,  by  his  statesmen  even,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  his  marriage  with  Mile,  de  Montijo,  the 
Emperor  still  had  to  overcome  the  opposition 
of  his  intimate  friends,  and  especially  that  of 
their  wives. 

A  charming  anecdote  has  been  told  me  about 
the  time  previous  to  her  engagement  with  the 
man  before  whom  all  Europe  knelt  with  appar- 
ent deference,  but  really  with  a  sullen  and  hostile 
feeling,  when  the  lady  who  was  to  be  Empress 
arrived  at  Compi^gne. 

The  women  who  were  about  the  Emperor,  and 
amongst  whom  were  Mmes.  Drouyn  de  Lhuy.s, 
de  Fortoul,  and  Saint  Arnaud,  had  resented  the 


HER  MARRIAGE.  35 

news  that  Napoleon  III.,  fascinated  by  Mile,  de 
Montijo,  was  very  likely  to  marry  her.  All  de- 
clared this  marriage  impossible,  exclaiming  that 
it  could  not  be  that  the  Emperor  would  marry 
this  young  girl ;  and  when  she  appeared  among 
them,  they  treated  her  with  scorn,  and  kept 
aloof  from  her. 

One  day  at  Compiegne  several  of  them  con- 
cealed their  dislike  and  animosity  so  little,  that 
Mile,  de  Montijo  was  deeply  hurt,  and  com- 
plained to  the  Emperor  of  the  reception  they 
had  given  her.  The  interview  took  place  in  the 
park,  and  not  far  from  where  Napoleon  and  his 
companion  were.  The  enemies  of  the  young 
girl  were  watching  every  motion  and  gesture  of 
the  sovereign. 

The  Emperor  listened,  quietly  smiling  to  his 
beautiful  complainant.  And  when  she  had  fin- 
ished speaking,  he  broke  from  a  hedge  several 
flexible  green  branches,  and  twisting  them  into 
a  crown,  put  it  coquettishly  on  the  head  of  Mile, 
de  Montijo,  saying  in  a  tone  loud  enough  to  be 
heard,  "While  waiting  for  the  other." 

Not  a  word  was  said  by  the  group  of  her 
critics,  and  from  that  time  the  Empress  Eugenie 
was  taken  up  by  these  women,  who  changed 
their  tactics,  and  were  as  amiable  and  obsequi- 
ous to  her  as  they  had  previously  been  scornful 
and  arrogant. 


36  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

As  to  the  remarks  of  the  politicians  about 
him,  the  Emperor  paid  no  attention  to  them. 
To  all  the  objections  which  were  made  to  him 
he  listened,  as  he  was  in  the  habit  of  doing, 
his  eyes  downcast,  his  face  impassive,  and  an- 
swered always  in  the  following  words  :  "  I  have 
decided  to  marry  Mile,  de  Montijo,  and  I  will 
marry  her." 

By  a  singular  coincidence,  it  was  the  same 
statesman,  a  diplomat,  who  had  said,  "  The  Em- 
peror rivals  M.  de  Musset,  and  his  reign  will  be 
but  the  song  of  a  night,"  who  was  appointed  by 
Napoleon  III.  to  appear  officially  before  Mile, 
de  Montijo,  who  was  then  living  in  the  Place  Ven- 
dome,  to  announce  to  her  that  he  had  chosen 
her  to  be  his  wife,  thereby  giving  their  engage- 
ment an  official  character.  This  mission,  how- 
ever, was  not  undertaken  without  some  hesitation 
and  discussion. 

The  statesman  in  question,  who  was  very  in- 
timate with  the  Emperor,  thought  that  before 
obeying  him  and  making  this  step  irrevocable, 
he  would  submit  to  the  Emperor  a  few  final 
objections. 

Napoleon  III.  answered  him  as  he  had 
answered  others  :  "  Mile,  de  Montijo  shall  be 
Empress  !  "  Then  the  diplomat  showed  his 
diplomacy. 


HER  MARRIAGE.  37 

**  In  the  presence  of  a  thing  which  is  to  be 
done,  sire,  I  express  my  opinion.  But  before 
an  accompHshed  fact,  my  habit  is  to  keep  si- 
lence ;  and  so  I  think  perfect  what  cannot  be 
prevented." 

And  making  a  profound  bow,  he  directed  his 
steps  to  the  Place  Vendome,  where  we  can 
easily  believe  he  was  well  received. 

We  have  seen  that  the  marriage  of  the  Em- 
peror and  of  Mile,  de  Montijo  was  not  accom- 
plished without  astonishing  and  irritating  the 
intimates  of  the  court  as  well  as  the  political 
world.  The  young  girl,  no  less  than  her  mother, 
moreover,  was  not  ignorant  of  the  surprise  and 
opposition  which  she  had  aroused ;  and  when 
Madame  de  Montijo  learned  that  her  daughter 
was  indeed  to  become  Empress,  a  certain  pang, 
a  certain  compassion  and  maternal  solicitude, 
took  possession  of  her  on  thinking  how  all 
would  be  reverential  and  attentive  to  her,  but 
also  how  she,  at  the  dawn  of  her  life  as  wife 
and  sovereign,  would  give  occasion  to  so  much 
hatred  and  jealousy.     Mme.  de  Montijo  was  a 

friend  of  the  Marquis  de  la  R ,  who  being 

the  French  Minister  at  Berlin,  and  a  supporter 
of  the  Empire,  was  made  senator,  to  the  great 
regret  of  his  family  and  of  his  friends  in  the 
Faubourg  St.  Germain. 


3S  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

When  the  choice  and  decision  of  the  Emperor 
were  officially  announced,  she  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  Marquis,  into  which  she  poured  at  once 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  her  mother's  heart. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  she  said,  "  whether  I  should  be 
happy  or  whether  I  should  weep.  How  many  mothers 
envy  me,  who  could  not  understand  the  tears  with  which 
my  eyes  are  filled.  Eugenie  is  to  be  queen  over  your 
France,  and,  in  spite  of  myself,  I  remember  that  with 
you  queens  have  but  little  happiness.  In  spite  of  my- 
self, the  thought  of  Marie  Antoinette  takes  possession 
of  me,  and  I  wonder  if  my  child  may  not  have  the  same 
fate !  " 

As  to  Mile,  de  Montijo,  she  seemed  to  give 
but  little  thought  to  the  enmity  she  had  aroused. 
Absorbed   in   her  joy,   she   shared  it  with   her 

friends,    amongst    whom    Miles,  de   la    R , 

daughters  of  the  Marquis,  who  became  later  two 
of  her  ladies  in  waiting,  were  the  most  eager  to 
rejoice  with  her.  Mile,  de  Montijo,  moreover, 
remained,  notwithstanding  her  high  position, 
true  to  her  sympathies.  A  short  time  before 
the  official  announcement  of  her  engagement, 
and  when  the  Emperor's  determination  was 
somewhat  uncertain  and  known  only  to  herself, 
had  she  not  promised,  and  made  her  friends 
promise,  that  the  first  one  who  should  obtain  a 
high  position  would  share  it  with  the  rest  ? 


HER  MARRIAGE.  39 

A  few  days  after  this  compact,  she  went  to 
the  Hotel  Rue  du  Bac,  to  find  these  friends  and 
to  announce  to  them  that  she  was  to  be  Em- 
press. As  she  was  crossing  the  court  of  the 
hotel,  the  minister  of  Saxony,  who  was  playing 
whist  with  the  Marquis,  saw  her. 

He  also  had  known  the  news  since  the  pre- 
vious evening,  and  turning  to  the  young  girls, 
said,  "  Laugh  with  your  friend  to-day,  young 
ladies,  for  to-morrow  you  will  be  obliged  to 
treat  her  with  deference  and  respect." 

As  they  all  appeared  amazed,  "  Mile,  de  Mon- 
tijo  is  to  marry  the  Emperor,"  the  diplomat 
added  ;  "  but  feign  ignorance  of  the  news,  and 
let  her  have  the  pleasure  of  telling  you  her- 
self." 

After  her  marriage  the  Empress  did  not  for- 
get these  friends.  She  gathered  them  about 
her,  and  in  writing  to  one  of  them  she  begs  her 
to  tutoyer  her  as  she  used  to  do,  adding  that 
she  was  lonely  in  the  palace,  that  she  was  bored 
and  chagrined  by  the  ill-will  which  she  felt 
about  her. 

These  are  notes  scattered  on  these  pages  as 
the  hand  of  a  sower  scatters  grain  in  a  field. 
The  seed  germinates,  grows,  and  turns  gold  in 
the  June  sunshine,  ready  for  harvest.  What 
poet,  what  novelist,  what  philosopher  will  read 


40  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

these  notes,  will  collect  them,  will  use  them  — 
as  the  earth  disposes  of  the  wheat  —  to  give 
them  to  the  public  in  a  book,  a  study,  a  novel, 
or  a  poem  —  which  will  be  the  book  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie  ? 


II. 

IN    HER    PRIVATE    LIFE. 

In  order  better  to  understand  and  to  know 
the  Empress  Eugenie,  in  order  to  judge  her 
without  prejudice,  either  favourably  jor  other- 
wise, it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  her  un- 
der two  distinct  heads  ;  under  one  treating  her 
strictly  as  a  woman,  under  the  other  as  a  sov- 
ereign. I  will  consider  her  in  turn,  first  as  one, 
and  then  as  the  other,  with  an  impartiality 
from  which  I  shall  not  depart  in  the  course  of 
this  study.  The  pen  portrait  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie  has  already  been  drawn  many  times. 
But  either  those  who  have  written  of  her  have 
been  too  zealous  friends,  who  were  inspired  by 
her  memory,  and  their  excessive  praise  has  not 
been  listened  to  ;  or  else  they  have  been  bitter 
enemies,  who  in  their  polemics,  in  their  pam- 
phlets, or  in  their  extravagant  attacks,  have 
prejudiced  to  their  cause  the  minds  of  calm  and 
deliberate  readers. 

Neither  an  enemy  nor  a  friend,  but  claiming 
the  right  of  the  historian  who  is  free  to  think 
41 


42  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

as  he  chooses,  it  is  an  easy  task  for  me,  with 
the  help  of  the  notes  and  the  documents  which 
I  possess,  to  give  to  certain  personages  and 
certain  events  of  the  Second  Empire  their  real 
physiognomy. 

If  we  took  any  notice  of  the  gossip,  more  or 
less  ill-natured,  more  or  less  justifiable  in  regard 
to  the  Empress  Eugenie,  we  would  have  a  curi- 
ous and  very  false  idea  of  the  real  nature  of 
this  woman. 

Some  —  who  are  ignorant  of  facts  —  have 
represented  her  as  wrong  in  her  general  policy, 
and  depraved  in  her  intimate  relations ;  others 
—  impolitic  and  too  ardent  partisans  —  have 
made  her  out  perfect,  exempt  from  all  faults, 
both  in  her  public  and  private  life. 

She  was  neither  one  nor  the  other.  It 
would  be  easy  in  considering  her  as  a  woman  to 
sum  up  her  personality  by  a  comparison,  and 
to  say  that  she  was  like  those  pretty  little  birds 
of  sunny  lands  which  pass  beyond  our  reach ; 
and  supplementing  this  simile  by  an  analysis  of 
her,  we  could  add  that  morally  she  was  unreli- 
able, a  mixture  of  kindness  and  thoughtless 
indifference,  of  frivolity  and  austerity  without 
reason,  of  romantic  sentimentality,  and  of  com- 
mon sense,  which  was  almost  of  the  earth, 
earthy. 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  43 

A  close  study  of  her  character  shows  her  to 
be  often  vague  and  incoherent. 

The  Emperor,  in  his  blind  love,  did  not  un- 
derstand her  whom  he  had  chosen  for  his  wife, 
and  he  often  seemed  perplexed  by  her  enig- 
matical character. 

From  the  first  hours  of  their  marriage  he 
must  have  resented  the  independence  of  the 
young  woman,  —  an  independence  from  which 
he  suffered  to  the  last  —  and  which  was  not  in 
keeping  with  the  manners  and  etiquette  of  a 
court. 

The  natural  exuberance  of  the  Empress  con- 
formed itself  but  little  to  this  etiquette.  Na- 
poleon III.,  who,  realising  the  coldness  with 
which  the  foreign  courts  received  the  announce- 
ment of  his  marriage,  feared  their  criticism,  ex- 
acted from  his  wife  that  she  assume  an  attitude 
more  conformable  to  the  place  which  she  had 
been  called  upon  to  fill.  But  the  Empress  was 
refractory,  and  it  was  really  only  after  her  voy- 
age to  England,  that  she  decided  to  establish  at 
the  Tuileries,  for  herself,  as  for  all,  certain  rules 
relating  to  display,  to  conduct,  and  to  speech, 
which  left  nothing  to  be  desired,  and  which 
were  in  keeping  with  the  conventionalities  of 
court  life. 

At  Windsor  she  had  been  received  with  ex- 


44  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

traordinary  pomp,  and  the  impression  which 
this  visit  made  on  her  was  never  to  be  effaced. 

However,  even  at  Windsor,  her  carelessness, 
her  thoughtlessness,  very  nearly  put  her  in  an 
awkward  position,  and  almost  justified  the  fun 
that  was  made  of  her  scarcely  imperial  bear- 
ing. A  few  moments  before  she  was  to  appear 
in  the  grand  reception  room  in  presence  of  the 
Queen,  just  before  dinner,  wishing  to  dress,  she 
perceived  with  dismay,  that  the  trunk  which 
contained  her  dresses  had  not  arrived.  The  Em- 
peror, on  being  informed  of  this  contretemps,  was 
much  annoyed,  and  she  herself  was  chagrined, 
but  to  no  purpose.  She  was  about  to  excuse 
herself,  at  Napoleon's  suggestion,  on  the  plea  of 
a  sudden  indisposition  caused  by  the  fatigue 
of  her  journey,  when  one  of  her  ladies  came  to 
her  rescue.  She  offered  the  sovereign  one  of 
her  costumes,  a  blue  dress  very  simply  made. 

It  was  not  a  time  for  hesitation,  and  so  they 
set  about  altering  the  dress  to  fit  her  who  was 
to  wear  it.  Great  ladies  and  maids  went  to 
work  together  with  a  will,  and  in  a  short  time, 
the  Empress,  arrayed  in  the  blue  dress,  with  no 
ornament  but  flowers  in  her  hair  and  on  her 
waist  and  skirt,  appeared  before  the  Queen,  and 
in  her  dazzling  beauty,  which  was  enhanced  by 
the  simplicity  of  her  dress,  made  a  great  sensa- 


IN  HER  PRjyAJE  LIFE.  45 

tion.  This  fact  evidently  is  only  relatively 
significant. 

However,  it  marks  and  completes  the  succes- 
sion of  public  and  private  appearances  which 
make  up  the  ensemble  of  the  character  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  and  it  gains  importance  from 
the  place  where  it  occurred.  There  is  a  very 
pretty  note  written  by  the  Empress  concerning 
that  everlasting  and  despised  question  of  eti- 
quette, which  is  connected  with  a  charming 
anecdote. 

She  was  continually  discussing  this  subject 
with  the  Emperor,  and  on  one  occasion  she 
made  a  bet  with  him  as  to  the  place  which  the 
Maids  of  Honour  of  the  Empress  should  occupy 
on  the  occasion  of  a  festival. 

Now,  such  an  occasion  having  arrived  before 
the  question  had  been  decided,  when  she  ap- 
peared with  her  suite,  she  remembered  her 
recent  discussion,  and  felt  somewhat  embar- 
rassed. 

Whereupon  she  passed  to  the  Countess  X 

the  following  words  written  in  pencil :  "  I  have 
a  bet  with  the  Emperor.  At  the  Queen's  balls, 
do  the  ladies  in  waiting  sit  or  stand  back  of 
the  Queen  }  "  History  would  seem  to  prove 
that  they  concerned  themselves  but  little  at  the 
Tuileries    with    social    customs,    and    that    the 


46  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

"  va-coimne-je-te-pousse,''  for  which  the  imperial 
court  is  so  much  criticised,  was  not  without 
foundation. 

With  a  sudden  impulse  the  Empress  went 
out  spontaneously  to  those  who  attracted  her, 
showed  them  affection,  showered  attentions 
upon  them ;  then  as  suddenly,  influenced  by  a 
word  or  by  a  gesture,  would  abandon  them  and 
appear  henceforth  to  ignore  them.  Often  her 
sympathy,  as  well  as  her  antipathy,  was  shown 
without  any  apparent  reason,  and  one  would 
say  that  in  acting  thus  she  followed  an  im- 
pulse over  which  she  had  no  control. 

Nevertheless,  she  was  loyal,  capable  of  de- 
votion, and  it  would  be  vain  to  seek  for  any 
premeditation,  any  feeling  of  egotism,  or  any 
purpose  of  deception  in  her  apparent  versatility. 

When  she  clasped  the  hand  of  a  man  or  a 
woman,  she  was  sincere,  and  when  she  prom- 
ised to  be  faithful  in  any  attachment,  she  had 
no  intention  of  being  untrue ;  for  she  herself 
believed,  in  perfectly  good  faith,  in  her  decla- 
ration, forgetting  continually  the  venturesome 
and  somewhat  vagrant  fancies  of  her  impulsive 
nature. 

The  Emperor  deplored  this  fickleness  of  the 
Empress  in  the  choice  of  her  friends  :  he  gen- 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  47 

erally  had  to  bear  the  consequences ;  and  he 
tried  his  best  to  dissipate  the  enmity  and  dis- 
content to  which  she  gave  rise. 

Writing  to  one  of  his  ministers  who,  up  to 
that  time  having  been  made  much  of  by  the  Em- 
press, was  complaining  of  her  coldness  and  her 
unexpected  hostility,  he  excused  her  in  the  fol- 
lowing words,  hoping  thus  to  appease  his  friend, 
"  You  know  that  the  Empress  is  very  impulsive, 
but  in  reality  she  is  fond  of  you."  Only  this  ; 
nothing  more.  It  would  seem  that  in  this 
short  note  the  Emperor  allows  a  sadness,  a  dis- 
couragement, to  appear,  pleader  as  he  was  of  a 
hopeless  cause ! 

However,  —  I  repeat  myself  intentionally,  — 
those  who  read  these  lines  must  not  draw  a 
wrong  conclusion  from  this  fact  in  regard  to 
the  Empress  Eugenie.  I  cannot  insist  upon  it 
too  much,  that  this  peculiarity  did  not  indicate 
either  hypocrisy  or  malice  or  disloyalty. 

Like  a  child  who  is  carried  away  by  a  new 
toy,  and  who,  growing  tired  of  it,  thought- 
lessly breaks  it ;  so  she,  a  stranger  to  all  in- 
trigue, to  all  premeditation,  to  any  desire  to 
annoy,  turned  away,  unmoved  and  inexplicably, 
from  this  one  or  from  that  one  on  whom  the 
evening  before  she  had  smiled,  without  giving 
any  thought  to  the  cruelty  of  her  conduct,  to 


48  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

the  pain  which  she  caused,  or  the  enemy  which 
she  made  thereby. 

Soicvc7it  femnie  varie.  .  .  .  The  refrain  of 
King  Frangois  was  absolutely  applicable  to  the 
Empress,  forever  changing  in  her  sensations 
as  in  her  sentiments,  elusive  and  indefinable 
almost,  continually  varying,  both  mentally  and 
physically. 

The  Empress  was  Spanish,  and  we  may  attrib- 
ute this  peculiarity,  without  danger  of  being 
mistaken,  to  her  origin. 

Exuberant  to  excess,  whimsical,  very  roman- 
tic, yet  at  the  same  time  practical,  prosaic  even, 
and  mistress  of  herself  ;  honest,  notwithstanding 
the  thoughtlessness  and  vivacity  of  her  imagina- 
tion, it  is  possible  that  she  may  have  been  given 
to  affectation  without  realising  it  —  if  I  were 
not  afraid  to  use  another  word,  and  if  I  did  not 
fear  contempt  for  the  form  as  well  as  the  facts 
of  this  study,  I  would  say  she  was  given  to 
comedy.  Much  evidence  could  be  brought  to 
prove  this  estimate  of  her,  which,  however,  does 
not  lessen  the  kindness  and  generosity  with 
which  she  overwhelmed  those  who  loved  her, 
and  which  she  sometimes  showed  even  to  her 
enemies. 

For  with  her  romantic  nature  the  Empress 
was  lavish  in  her  kindness,  often  even  to  those 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  49 

whom  she  knew  to  be  indifferent  to  her.  A 
few  letters  will  support  this  statement  better 
than  any  argument. 

Urged  by  Mme.  de  M ,  the  wife  of  one  of 

the  principal  members  of  the  Legitimist  society, 
who,  moreover,  did  not  spare  her,  to  give  to  her 
husband  a  diplomatic  post,  she  received  most 
graciously  the  request  made  of  her,  and  could 
not  rest  until  she  had  satisfied  her  applicant. 

I  know  well  that  Napoleon  III.,  during  his 
reign,  obstinately  cherished  the  hope  of  rallying 
to  his  dynasty  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  and 
that  he  was  very  cordial  to  those  of  its  repre- 
sentatives who  came  to  him.  But  without  ask- 
ing whether  the  Empress  helped  him  in  this 
ungrateful  task,  in  the  circumstance  which  we 
are  considering,  I  do  not  think  she  was  con- 
trolled by  interested  or  political  motives,  and  I 
am  inclined  to  think  it  best  to  give  her  the 
benefit  of  the  doubt  as  to  her  generosity. 

"  Mme.  de  M ,"  she  writes  under  date  of  Tuesday, 

December  6,  "  now  wants  the  Hague.  I  wish  the  nom- 
inations might  soon  be  announced." 

And  she  adds  familiarly,  with  the  confession 
of  a  woman  annoyed  and  beset  by  the  exactions 
of  petitioners,  — 

"  Then  I  will  be  let  alone." 


50  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Seven  days  after  this  note  she  writes  again, 
having  succeeded  in  obtaining  her  application 
from  the  Emperor. 

"December  \})th. 

"  I  saw  Mme.  de  M on  Sunday,  and  she  appeared 

satisfied." 

But  this  is  not  all  ;  another   petitioner  pre- 
sents herself,  also  from  the  royalists. 

"  As  to   Mme.   de   G ,"  continues   the   Empress, 

*'  God  grant  she  may  be  pleased  ;  but  so  far  she  has  not 
sent  me  a  word  of  thanks.  If  you  see  her,  especially  if 
you  see  her  husband,  tell  him  that  he  does  not  owe  his 
appointment  entirely  to  personal  merit.  As  to  his  grati- 
tude, I  know  what  to  expect ;  as  I  look  for  none,  I  will 
not  be  disappointed." 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  make  a  pretext  of 
this  letter  and  of  the  words  which  characterise 

it,  —  "  Be  sure  to  tell  M.  de  G ,  that  he  does 

not  owe  his  appointment  entirely  to  personal 
merit,"  —  to  take  up  the  cudgels  again  against 
the  imperial  administration,  and  to  declare  that 
Napoleon  gave  his  embassies  to  those  who  were 

incapable  of  filling  them.     M.  de  G ,  whose 

name  I  do  not  give  for  reasons  of  propriety 
which  will  be  appreciated,  was,  on  the  contrary, 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  diplomats  of  the 
Second  Empire. 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  $1 

The  letter  of  the  Empress  reveals  rather  a 
sad  condition  of  things,  and  throws  light  on 
the  surroundings  of  the  Emperor,  and  shows 
that  if  Napoleon  III.  and  his  wife  sought  to  win 
sympathy  for  themselves,  they  were,  on  the  con- 
trary, often  but  little  repaid  by  those  to  whom 
they  showed  kindness,  and  whom  they  brought 
to  the  front. 

There  is  a  delicate  question  which  I  approach 
with  the  greatest  circumspection.  Was  the 
Empress  as  impassioned  as  she  is  represented, 
and  was  she  faithful  to  the  Emperor  ^ 

I  avow  that  to  put  such  an  interrogation 
point  after  the  life  of  this  woman  is  not  to 
know  her.  However,  as  any  hesitancy  here 
would  be  misinterpreted,  I  will  answer  those 
who  too  willingly  welcome  calumny  from  what- 
ever source,  and  who  judge  too  hastily  from 
appearances  which  they  are  not  in  a  position  to 
estimate  in  their  real  significance  and  in  their 
proper  relation. 

Well,  then,  did  the  ELmpress  have  love  affairs, 
and  was  she  always  in  another  sense  the  woman 
who,  according  to  M.  de  Goncourt,  answered 
the  Emperor  when  she  was  a  young  girl  in  the 
significant  words,  "  I  have  loved,  but  I  am  still 
Mile,  de  Montijo  "  .? 

There  must  be  on  this  subject   no  equivoca- 


52  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

tion,  and  my  affirmation,  supported  by  many 
impartial  witnesses,  by  irrefutable  facts,  will  be 
short.  No  !  the  Empress  had  no  such  weak- 
ness. Yes !  the  Empress  remained  a  faithful 
slave  to  her  duties  as  a  wife.  And  now  I  will 
explain  myself. 

There  were,  doubtless,  in  the  midst  of  the  in- 
coherent and  brilliant  life  of  the  imperial  court, 
times  when  the  Empress  appeared  fascinated 
with  some  one  besides  her  husband,  by  some 
attractive,  handsome  cavalier,  like  the  hero  of  a 
novel,  with  winning  words  and  Don-Juanesque 
designs.  But  those  who  observed  her  most 
closely  in  her  troubled  moments,  in  her  mo- 
ments of  suppressed  enthusiasm,  are  unanimous 
in  insisting  on  the  platonic  character  of  those 
infatuations,  which  were  more  mental  than 
physical. 

"  Her  temperament,"  said  one  of  the  former 
intimate  friends  at  the  Tuileries,  "  suggested  a 
fire  among  straw  which  burns  and  burns,  mak- 
ing one  think  that  everything  would  take  fire 
and  be  consumed.  Then,*  the  very  one  who 
flattered  himself  that  he  had  lit  it,  was  aston- 
ished at  the  fictitious  flame  which  had  lighted 
and  warmed  him,  and  he  would  turn  away,  hav- 
ing perhaps  given  much,  but  received  nothing  ; 
having  for  consolation  naught  but  the  parody  of 


IN  HER  PRIP^ATE  LIFE.  53 

a  famous  sonnet."  I  have  quoted  literally  the 
words  of  my  interlocutor;  and  if  we  consider 
the  "ways"  of  the  Empress  in  these  sympa- 
thetic relations  which  she  is  reproached  with, 
and  which  by  a  certain  public  would  be  looked 
upon  as  conjugal  infidelity,  it  will  be  recognised 
that  if  the  Emperor  was  jealous,  he  would  have 
had  in  his  jealousy,  to  speak  vulgarly,  more  fear 
than  injury. 

The  Empress  —  again  a  repetition  —  was 
wonderfully  beautiful,  and  like  all  pretty  women, 
although  a  sovereign,  and  perhaps  because  she 
was  a  sovereign,  liked  to  be  flattered  and  to  re- 
ceive attention.  To  use  a  modern  expression, 
she  flirted,  and  flirted  even  to  the  extreme,  but 
always  without  endangering  her  honour,  and, 
always  unyielding,  although  romantic,  she  did 
not  seek  sensations  other  than  were  allowed  to 
a  woman  by  the  most  elementary  standard  of 
honour,  and  her  heart  was  in  no  sense  eager  for 
emotion,  as  is  that  of  tender  and  sentimental 
women. 

The  Empress  was  neither  tender,  sentimen- 
tal, nor  sensual.  There  was  a  natural  hardness 
about  her,  which  disinclined  her  to  all  revery  ; 
and  having  excluded  from  her  life  a  vision  of 
real  love,  she  was  not  easily  made  to  forget  her- 
self or  those  belonging  to  her.     All  that  might 


54  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

be  said  or  written  on  this  subject  to  contradict 
this  estimate  of  her  will  be  but  falsehood  and 
calumny.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Empress 
loved  the  Emperor.  When  he  was  absent  she 
longed  for  him  ;  and  once,  on  the  occasion  of 
her  birthday,  did  she  not  put  her  whole  heart  in 
this  note  when  she  wrote  : 

"November  21  si. 
"  This  year  again  I  have  spent  my  birthday  far  away 
from  the  Emperor,  which  fact  has  made  it  a  sad  day ; 
but  I  hope  soon  to  rejoin  him." 

A  peasant  woman  writing  thus  would  never 
have  a  doubt  expressed  of  her  virtue.  Why  be 
suspicious  of  these  words  coming  from  the  pen 
of  a  queen .''  If  I  believed  one  phrase  attributed 
to  the  Empress  Eugenie,  which  almost  made  a 
scandal,  I  should  be  inclined  to  think  that,  on 
the  subject  of  morals,  she  had  peculiar  views  ; 
but  nothing  indicates  that  she  used  the  freedom 
which  she  seems  to  sanction. 

"  As  to  young  girls,"  she  is  reported  to  have 
said  one  evening  at  the  Tuileries,  "  they  cannot 
be  too  closely  guarded  or  protected  from  danger 
and  harm,  and  I  continually  watch  them  and 
their  surroundings.  As  to  married  women,  it 
is  quite  another  matter,  and  I  confess  that  Ido 
not  concern  myself  about  them.  I  am  indiffer- 
ent to  their  virtue  as  I  am  to  their  failings  — 


IN  HER  PRIP^ATE  LIFE.  55 

it  is  their  own  affair.  They  know  enough  to 
understand  and  to  protect  themselves.  And, 
besides,  have  they  not  their  husbands  to  defend 
them  or  to  watch  over  them .-' " 

This  declaration,  a  little  broad,  I  repeat,  was 
wrongly  interpreted,  and  did  injustice  to  her 
who  expressed  it.  But  it  proves  nothing,  and 
it  would  be  unjust  to  use  it  to  tarnish  the  char- 
acter of  its  author. 

Let  us  abandon,  then,  these  insinuations,  these 
ill-disposed  suppositions,  and  let  us  try  to  look 
at  things  as  they  are. 

The  Empress  was  f riv^olous,  without  doubt ;  but 
she  maintained  her  good  character.  Brought  up 
in  surroundings  very  different  from  those  of  a 
court,  she  never  had  the  dignity  which  is  taught 
from  the  cradle  to  women  destined  to  reign. 
She  thought  sincerely,  and  without  any  reser- 
vation, that  she  was  entitled  to  enjoy  the  life 
which  was  made  for  her,  and  she  cared  very 
little  for  her  reputation  in  rousing  in  the  men 
about  her  sentiments  which  flattered  her  vanity. 
She  had  —  and  this  is  not  one  of  her  least 
marked  characteristics  —  an  extreme  curiosity 
to  investigate  the  human  heart.  And  the  adu- 
lation which  she  aroused  interested  her,  as  she 
would  have  been  interested  and  stirred  by  a 
novel  if  she  had  been  more  susceptible  to  emo- 


$6  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

tion  and  sentimentality.  She  was  a  conqueror, 
and  she  amused  herself  with  the  sentiments 
which  she  inspired,  as  a  victor  might  play  with 
the  armies  which  oppose  him. 

She  liked  to  use  her  power  as  a  woman,  as 
well  as  her  power  as  a  sovereign  ;  she  liked  to 
have  adventures,  to  encounter  perils  from  which 
she  escaped,  and  which  she  forgot,  as  a  ship  for- 
gets the  rough  sea  when  she  reaches  her  port 
in  safety.  In  a  word,  she  was  idolized.  She 
knew  that  she  was  adored,  and  while  she  pas- 
sively received  homage,  she  thought,  nai'vely, 
that  she  was  making  friends  whose  only  wish 
was  to  serve  and  to  love  her. 

Thus  she  deceived  many,  and  much  ill-will 
originated  in  one  of  her  beautiful  glances,  of 
which  she  was  lavish,  and  which  many  found 
fault  with  for  leaving  unkept  the  promises 
they  made.  Besides  all  this,  the  Empress  was 
fond  of  discussion  and  argument,  and  she 
gladly  sought  the  society  of  men  capable  by 
their  cleverness  of  interesting  her.  Knowing 
well  that  nothing  can  be  accomplished  without 
some  pains,  before  conversing  with  a  learned 
man,  whether  an  author  or  an  artist,  or  even 
with  a  politician,  she  studied  him,  and  decided 
what  she  had  better  say  to  conquer  him.  She 
put   forth  every  effort  then  to  attract  him  by 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  $7 

the  charm  of  her  person  as  well  as  by  her  con- 
versation ;  and,  when  she  had  fascinated  him 
completely,  and,  according  to  her  own  expression, 
"had  found  his  homage  agreeable  and  amus- 
ing, she  would  look  at  him  tenderly,"  and  when 
she  knew  that  she  had  made  his  heart  beat 
violently,  she  would  stop  short  the  poem  or  the 
romance  just  begun,  and  write  at  the  bottom 
of  the  page,   T/ie  end. 

This  was  imprudent,  foolish,  little  in  keeping 
with  the  dignity  which  she  should  have  had  ;  it 
was,  perhaps,  also  cruel ;  but  what  pretty  woman 
would  condemn  the  Empress  Eugenie  for  this  ? 
What  pretty  woman  would  dare  to  say  that  she 
has  not  done  the  same  ?  And  I  add,  what  man 
in  love  has  not  been  the  victim  of  just  such 
feminine  perfidy,  and  has  revenged  himself  by 
slandering  her  who  has  caused  him  to  suffer  ? 
The  venial  sin  of  a  peasant,  is  it  a  mortal  sin 
in  a  queen  ? 

Although  she  was  very  intelligent,  the 
Empress  Eugenie  did  not  have  that  absolute 
influence  over  the  Emperor  which  is  still  gen- 
erally attributed  to  her,  based  on  reports  more 
imaginary  than  real.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that 
Napoleon  III.  allowed  himself  to  be  too  often 
controlled  by  his  wife  in  matters  pertaining  to 


58  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

his  foreign  policy,  and  yet  was  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  her  influence  in  his  home  policy. 

When  I  study  the  political  ivlc  of  the  Em- 
press Eugenie,  I  will  return  to  this  subject.  At 
present  I  will  consider  the  cleverness  of  the 
Empress  in  her  intimate  relations ;  and  this 
cleverness  showed  itself  in  such  a  misleading 
manner,  that  one  scarcely  knows  how  to  define 
it.  In  her  actions,  in  her  words,  the  Empress 
was  often  so  bizarre  as  to  astonish  those  who 
observed   her. 

All  of  her  mental  qualities  are  especially 
manifest  in  her  letters,  and  it  is  in  her  letters 
that  we  will  search  for  them. 

It  would  seem  that  with  her  the  woman  who 
acted  was  not  the  woman  who  thought.  With 
a  mind  but  little  cultivated,  lacking  balance 
and  experience,  notwithstanding  her  apparent 
refinement,  the  Empress,  who  had  the  gift  of 
assimilating,  knew  admirably  well  how  to  give 
intellectual  change  to  those  who  were  aware  of 
the  weakness  of  her  supply,  by  calling  her  prodi- 
gious memory  to  her  aid,  when  she  felt  the  need 
of  the  resources  which  her  previous  study  could 
not  furnish  her.  Moreover,  she  was  a  charm- 
ing narrator,  in  spite  of  the  rather  harsh  tone 
of  her  voice ;  and,  having  a  taste  for  reading 
and  the  theatre,  she  enjoyed  repeating  to  her 


IN  HER  PRiyy4TE  LIFE.  59 

friends  the  book  she  had  read  or  the  play  she 
had  seen. 

One  could,  at  such  times,  observe  the  won. 
derful  development  of  her  memory ;  for  in  her 
account  she  would  not  omit  a  characteristic 
feature  of  the  book,  not  an  incident,  not  a  single 
word  of  the  comedy  or  the  tragedy.  Did  she 
realise  that,  with  her,  facts  had  to  take  the  place 
of  experience  ?  Perhaps  !  However  this  may  be, 
she  missed  no  opportunity  of  showing  that  she 
was  interested  in  literature  and  in  art  ;  and  in 
her  writings  there  is  considerable  evidence  of 
an  unacknowledged  effort,  if  I  may  be  pardoned 
the  expression,  to  be  a  brilliant  narrator. 

In  art  the  Empress  was,  indeed,  more  than  an 
amateur.  She  was  a  connoisseur  ;  and  I  have 
seen  crayon  portraits  by  her  which  left  nothing 
to  be  desired  in  their  execution. 

This  taste  for  drawing  led  her  to  wish  to 
compete  publicly  for  the  building  of  one  of  the 
great  monuments  of  Paris,  then  being  sketched 
—  the  new  opera  house.  She  drew  a  plan, 
exhibited  it  under  an  assumed  name,  and  was 
much  amused  by  the  venture. 

Her  plan,  I  am  told,  was  not  so  devoid  of 
merit  as  one  might  suppose,  and  the  Empress 
was  much  embarrassed  when  it  was  decided  to 
exhibit  it. 


60  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Her  most  cruel  enemies  will  admit  that  al- 
though she  was  an  Empress,  she  could  not  have 
every  accomplishment.  So  being  entirely  igno- 
rant of  architecture,  she  was  obliged  for  the 
technical  carrying  out  of  her  plan  to  resort  to 
the  advice  and  practical  assistance  of  a  trained 
architect. 

The  note  in  which  she  claims  this  advice,  and 
which  she  wrote  to  a  statesman,  who  alone  was 
in  her  confidence,  is  very  graceful  :  — 

"  Decidedly,"  she  writes,  "  send  me  your  young  archi- 
tect to  express  architecturally  my  poor  sketch.  Also 
send  me  the  dimensions  and  plan  of  the  land  which  has 
been  given  to  my  colleagues. 

"i8  March,i?,6i." 

It  would  be  impossible  to  put  more  grace  into 
the  realisation  of  a  whim  ;  and  I  leave  to  the 
ill-natured  all  criticism  or  raillery. 

In  her  conversation  —  although  often  fascinat- 
ing, as  I  have  said  —  the  Empress  was  some- 
what given  to  wild  tales,  and  we  should  not 
judge  of  her  balance  of  mind  by  scraps  of  her 
conversation.  The  character  of  her  mind  is  en- 
tirely revealed  in  her  letters  ;  and  if  some  of 
them  are  silly,  as  are  most  letters  of  pretty 
women,  others  reveal  an  unusual  intelligence ; 
others,  to  more  intimate  friends,  show  a  philo- 
sophic turn    which  often  recurs    in    the  corre- 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  6l 

spondence  of  the  Empress,  —  a  mixture  of  scepti- 
cism, of  sadness,  and  of  joy,  which  she  had  felt 
amidst  the  preoccupations,  the  intrigues,  the 
hostilities  which  existed  previous  to  her  mar- 
riage, and  which  did  not  cease  to  trouble  her 
even  after  her  accession  to  the  throne. 

Having  been  very  earnestly  entreated  to  in- 
duce one  of  her  prot^g^es  to  marry  a  very  high 

dignitary.  Due  de ,  she  hesitated  to  make  a 

duchess  of  the  girl  ;  and  the  following  words 
which  the  situation  inspired  will  not  fail  by 
their  bitterness  to  excite  some  astonishment :  — 

"  I  find  that  one  pays  too  dearly  for  greatness,"  she 
says,  "  to  urge  her  to  take  this  step." 

And  yet  the  Empress  Eugenie  wrote  these 
words  at  one  of  the  purest,  proudest,  and  happi- 
est moments  of  her  life. 

She  had  delicate  and  subtle  thoughts,  which 
she  expressed  in  a  manner  altogether  French. 

From  Eaux-Bonnes  she  writes  to  a  friend  who 
was  spending  the  season  at  Vichy  :  — 

"  I  am  not  surprised  at  your  impression  of  Vichy.  It 
is  the  same  that  one  feels  in  any  watering-place  where 
one  goes  merely  for  health.  The  collection  of  suffering 
human  beings  in  such  a  small  place  makes  one  sad. 

"  I  have  felt  the  same  thing  here,  especially  the  first 
days  of  my  stay ;  for,  after  all,  we  get  used  to  every- 
thing, even  to  what  is  sad." 


62  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

And  again  the  following  letter,  which  was  in- 
spired by  a  real  trial,  —  by  a  temporary  misun- 
derstanding between  the  Emperor  and  one  of 
his  statesmen  of  whom  she  was  fond  ;  does  it 
not  contain  a  real  knowledge  of  politics,  as  well 
as  of  the  human  heart  ? 

Saint  Sauveur,  August  29, 1859. 

I  am  really  distressed  to  see  everything  involved  for 
the  sake  of  nothing.  Truly,  I  cannot  imagine  why  you 
are  no  longer  in  the  Emperor's  confidence.  The  griev- 
ances of  which  he  speaks  are  old  ones,  and  he  has 
already  expressed  himself  in  regard  to  them. 

I   remember  when  we  were   at   Saint-Cloud,    saying 

many  times  to  M ,  that  a  verbal  explanation  has  a 

great  advantage  over  a  written  one ;  the  fact  is,  a  hasty 
word  is  easily  effaced  if  we  can  see  the  effect  of  it.  But 
paper  can  only  convey  the  idea,  without  the  smile  which 
accompanies  it,  and  which  modifies  its  harshness.  What 
distresses  me  is,  that  we  often  feel  obliged  to  maintain 
for  the  sake  of  pride  what,  in  our  heart,  we  really  feel 
to  be  exaggerated.  It  is  the  duty  of  us  women,  then,  to 
try  to  soothe  rather  than  to  excite. 

It  would  show  ill-will  and  prejudice  not  to 
recognise  the  justness  of  the  judgment  and  the 
charm  of  these  lines,  which  need,  however,  to  be 
explained,  and  which  seem  to  sanction  the  part 
played  by  the  Empress  in  foreign  affairs. 

This  letter  was  written  after  a  difference  of 
opinion  which  had  arisen  between  the  Emperor 


IN  HER  PRIl^ATE  LIFE.  63 

and  his  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  after  the 
Italian  campaign,  and  when  the  question  was 
raised  of  signing  a  treaty  with  Austria,  putting 
an  end  to  hostilities.  The  minister,  who  had  a 
horror  of  half  measures  and  hesitancy,  after 
having  found  fault  with  the  war  in  Italy,  did 
not  wish  the  Emperor  to  be  reconciled  with 
Francis  Joseph  until  he  had  pushed  his  victo- 
rious march  still  further,  even  though  we  should 
have  difficulty  with  the  Berlin  cabinet,  which 
in  that  case  would  remain  passive  and  acqui- 
escent, judging  by  appearances,  and  maintained 
that  it  was  necessary,  if  not  to  take  possession 
of  Vienna,  at  least  to  reach  her  gates  before 
declaring  peace. 

The  minister,  who  had  been,  I  repeat,  only 
half  in  favour  of  the  war  with  Austria,  and  who 
feared  to  create  on  our  frontiers  a  power  almost 
equal  to  ours  in  unifying  Italy,  the  situation 
having  become  irremediable,  wished  it  to  be 
completed. 

There  were  between  him  and  the  Emperor  on 
this  question  various  discussions,  then  a  serious 
difference  of  opinion,  and  finally  an  open  rup- 
ture. It  was  then  that  the  Empress  appeared 
on  the  scene  and  restored  peace  and  the  old 
friendly  relations  between  them.  At  heart  she 
had  agreed  with  the  minister  on  the  inoppor- 


64  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

tuneness  of  this  war,  but  she  was  controlled  by 
an  entirely  different  motive. 

In  allowing  Victor  Emmanuel  to  play  with 
Italy,  as  with  a  snow-ball,  to  destroy,  for  the 
sake  of  centralisation,  the  different  states  into 
which  it  was  divided,  the  Empress,  who  was 
very  devout  and  a  great  papist,  thought  with  in- 
dignation that  the  day  would  come  —  and  that 
day  has  come  —  when  Italy,  in  order  to  be  a  unit, 
would  only  have  the  Pontifical  States  to  conquer, 
would  dispossess  the  Holy  Father,  as  she  had 
the  petty  kings,  and  so  make  Rome  her  capital. 
She  would  have  wished  the  Emperor  to  resist 
the  attraction  which  Victor  Emmanuel  and  his 
policy  had  for  him  ;  and  although  she  knew  the 
moral  servitude  of  Napoleon  with  regard  to 
Italy,  she  would  have  wished  him  to  free  himself 
even  at  the  risk  of  personal  danger,  which  her 
faith  in  his  imperial  star  led  her  to  think  but 
little  imminent. 

The  Emperor  resisted  her  influence.  True 
to  his  word,  the  war  with  Austria  was  the  reali- 
sation of  a  promise. 

One  year  before  these  events  occurred,  in  the 
course  of  a  journey  which  she  made  with  the 
Emperor  in  the  west  of  France,  the  Empress, 
who  had  been  made  to  fear  some  hostile  man- 
ifestation   during    her    trip    through    Brittany, 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  6$ 

summed  up  her  impressions  in  an  enthusiastic 
letter  which  shows  all  the  vivacity  of  her  ima- 
gination —  of  that  imagination  which  went  from 
intellectual  to  material  things  by  a  bound,  min- 
gling continually  poetry  and  prose,  the  ideal 
with  what  was  of  the  earth,  earthy. 

Brest,  August  lo,  1S58. 
Here  we  are  at  Brest,  regretting  our  charming  hosts 
of  Cherbourg,  whom  we  would  have  liked  to  bring  with 
us ;  and  I  am  sure  that  a  view  of  this  beautiful  port 
would  have  compensated  you  even  for  the  seasickness. 
I  wish  I  could  describe  this  place  to  you ;  but  I  am  not 
gifted  with  that  talent,  as  was  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  I 
would  be  afraid  to  lessen  your  appreciation  of  this  ram- 
part of  France.  I  will  content  myself  with  saying  that 
our  reception  was  as  warm  as  possible,  and  that  the 
Bretons,  as  well  as  the  Normans,  cheered  us  with  all 
their  hearts.  Our  first  stopping-place  in  this  country 
which  is  supposed  to  be  hostile  to  us,  was  a  real  triumph  ; 
for  my  part  I  am  deeply  touched  by  it.  Yesterday  when 
we  arrived  I  was  exhausted,  for  the  engine  of  the 
Bretagne  made  such  a  noise  that  we  did  not  close  our 
eyes,  and  when  we  arrived,  we  had  to  stand  three  hours 
to  see  the  procession,  and  after  that  there  was  a  big 
dinner.  But  as  God  always  gives  strength  to  those  who 
need  it,  I  am  entirely  rested  this  morning,  and  ready  to 
begin  again. 

Then  later,  in  a  state  of  depression,  overcome 
by  a  sadness  which  the  public  would  never  sus- 
pect in  the  gay  world  of  the  Tuileries,  she  gives 


66  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

way  to  a  fearful  attack  of  the  blues,  to  dispel 
which,  she  summoned  to  her  those  who  were 
called  the  cocodettes,  chief  among  whom  was 
Madame  de  Metternich. 

"  I  have  just  had  news  from  China,"  she  writes  from 
Saint-Cloud,  under  date  of  the  ist  of  November,  i860. 
"  Our  victory  fills  me  with  joy  ;  there,  as  everywhere,  our 
gallant  soldiers  have  done  their  duty." 

And  she  adds  with  bitterness,  — 

"  I  did  not  think  that  I  was  still  capable  of  feeling 
anything  so  deeply ;  but  joy,  as  well  as  pain,  hurts  when 
one  is  as  exhausted  as  I  am." 

Still  a  prey  to  the  blues,  in  another  letter  she 
shows  still  more  her  state  of  mind  :  — 

"  The  doctors  wish  to  cure  the  body  before  healing  the 
soul,  and  that  is  impossible. 

Would  not  one  imagine  that  this  was  the  cry 
of  a  heroine  of  a  novel,  who  was  weeping  over  her 
abandonment,  her  broken  idol  ?  And  yet  what 
dream  could  be  more  beautiful  than  that  of  this 
woman  ?  what  heart  could  be  more  fully  satisfied 
than  hers  ? 

I  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  work  that  the 
Empress  was  versatile,  that  her  enthusiastic 
nature  led  her  to  two  extremes ;  and  the  pre- 
ceding letters  prove  the  correctness  of  my  state- 
ment.    These    letters,    although    ponderous    in 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  67 

their  style,  show  such  a  variety  of  feelings  and 
of  sentiments,  that  they  mislead  the  observer ; 
and,  everything  considered,  they  should  only  be 
looked  upon  —  and  this  will  not  lessen  their 
charm  —  as  a  spontaneous  and  versatile  ex- 
pression of  a  mind  always  on  the  alert,  and 
upon  whom  hours  and  circumstances,  sometimes 
happy,  sometimes  sad,  make  an  impression,  which 
is  not  deep,  however,  but  is  easily  effaced  by  the 
hours,  by  the  circumstances,  which  succeed  them. 

What  I  have  just  said  could  have  for  title 
"  The  Invisible  Empress."  The  visible  Empress 
—  not  to  the  public,  but  to  those  who  lived  her 
life  —  is  not  less  enigmatical. 

Contrary  to  a  generally  accepted  opinion,  and 
contrary  also  to  the  natural  tendencies  of  Napo- 
leon III.,  the  Empress  was  not  as  extravagant 
as  she  is  represented  to  be.  Indeed,  she  was 
rather  calculating,  and  had  most  rigid  ideas  of 
economy.  The  luxury  at  the  Tuileries  was 
especially  in  the  Empress's  surroundings.  As 
to  the  Empress  herself,  she  was  elegant,  but 
simple  in  her  taste ;  indeed,  too  simple  for  the 
Emperor,  and  she  did  not  conceal  her  horror  of 
all  extravagance.  Every  day  she  obliged  the 
ladies  of  her  suite  to  give  a  strict  account  of 
her  own  private  affairs,  and  she  allowed  no  one 
but  herself  to  verify  the  bills  of  dressmakers 


68  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

and  other  tradespeople.  She  kept  a  strict  ac- 
count, looked  over  the  items  with  great  exact- 
ness, and  only  paid  the  bills  after  she  had 
examined  them  in  detail. 

The  Emperor  was  often  obliged  to  take  her 
to  task  on  this  subject.  In  a  voyage  which  she 
made  to  Plombieres,  on  being  told  that  the 
peasants  who  crowded  her  way,  and  who  on 
their  knees  crossed  themselves  before  her,  were 
disappointed  that  she  did  not  wear  a  crown  like 
the  Holy  Virgin,  he  advised  her  to  pay  more 
attention  to  her  way  of  dressing  in  future,  re- 
minding her  of  what  Napoleon  I.  said  to  Mme. 
de  Valen^ay,  — 

"  Make  yourself  beautiful,  Madame,  when  you 
accompany  the  Empress.  The  people  imagine 
you  to  be  a  saint,  —  which  you  are  not,  —  do 
not  undeceive  them." 

On  her  part,  she  reproached  the  Emperor 
bitterly  with  his  generosity.  "  Your  uncle,"  she 
said  one  day,  "only  received  ingratitude  in  re- 
turn for  his  indiscriminate  giving.  Do  you  wish 
to  imitate  him  }  And  do  you  wish  to  be  famous 
in  the  same  way  ?  To  do  good  is  well  enough  ; 
but  do  not  overwhelm  with  kindness  these  peo- 
ple who  flatter  you  because  they  fear  you,  and 
who  would  turn  their  backs  on  you  in  trouble." 

Is    not    this    sentence,    which   is    absolutely 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  69 

authentic  and  literally  true,  eccentric,  and  does 
it  not  give  a  peculiar  light  on  the  inner  life  of 
the  Tuileries  ? 

Sincerely  devout,  this  need  of  flirtation  or 
coquetry,  which  made  her  so  many  enemies, 
was  shown  even  in  her  devotions.  In  proof  of 
which  I  cite  the  following  note  written  to  one 
of  her  faithful  friends,  after  an  interview  which 
she  had  just  had  with  the  nuncio  of  the  Pope. 

"  I  have  just  seen  the  nuncio,"  she  writes.  "  I  want 
very  much  to  know  what  impression  my  conversation 
made  on  him.     Try  to  find  out," 

One  would  almost  think  this  the  anxious 
inquiry  of  a  lover  in  regard  to  the  secret  feel- 
ings of  his  sweetheart. 

Her  religion,  mixed  with  superstition,  quickly 
passed  from  the  most  useless  to  the  most  serious 
questions. 

In  1870,  shortly  before  the  plebiscitum,  one 
Sunday  as  she  was  coming  from  mass,  she 
stopped  all  of  a  sudden  on  the  threshold  of  the 
Imperial  Chapel,  opened  a  Bible,  and,  putting 
her  finger  on  a  page,  hastened  to  read  the  verse 
thus  chosen  at  haphazard. 

What  verse  was  it .''  No  one  will  ever  know. 
But  those  who  were  about  her  that  day  still 
remember  how  happy  she  seemed  after  this 
mystic  rite. 


JO  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

"  We  will  have  a  success  —  a  brilliant  suc- 
cess !  "  she  exclaimed. 

In  good  sooth,  the  success  came ;  but  what  a 
morrow  was  to  follow  it !  This  the  Holy  Book 
forgot  to  reveal. 

In  proportion  as  the  Emperor  was  an  indul- 
gent father,  in  that  proportion  did  the  Empress 
assume  a  severity  towards  her  child  which  was 
almost  cruel.  She  had  but  little  maternal  in- 
stinct ;  and  though  she  was  proud  of  having  a 
son,  it  must  be  said  it  was  this  lack  of  all  ex- 
pression ofaffection,  this  coldness,  from  which 
resulted  misunderstandings  and  trials  of  all 
kinds,  which  determined  the  poor  young  Prince, 
on  reaching  manhood,  to  try  the  venturesome 
expedition  which  proved  fatal  to  him. 

Still,  it  is  only  right  to  do  justice  to  the  Em- 
press. She  loved  her  son,  even  though  it  was 
in  her  own  way,  and  she  brought  him  up  admir- 
ably. 

Thus,  when  he  was  very  young,  she  saved 
him  from  being  vain,  when  a  visitor,  with  mis- 
taken kindness,  wished  to  kiss  the  hand  of  the 
young  Prince,  by  saying,  "  Nonsense !  he  is  only 
a  child  ;"  and  she  drew  to  her  side  the  imperial 
boy,  protecting  him  from  a  servile  adulation 
which,  repeated  or  understood  by  the  young 
Prince,  might  have  given  rise  to  a  false  pride, 
which  she  feared. 


IN  HER  PRiyATE  LIFE.  7 1 

If  she  took  pains  to  keep  her  son  a  child,  in 
as  great  a  degree  she  tried  to  bring  out  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  Emperor.  She  was  deferen- 
tial to  him  in  public  ;  and  even  v^^hen  she  held 
court  to  her  intimates,  if  Napoleon  entered,  she 
immediately  rose,  and  treated  him  as  she  would 
on  an  official  occasion. 

She  also  showed  a  charming  solicitude  for  her 
imperial  husband.  She  often  deplored  his  ex- 
cessive work ;  and  those  intimate  reunions  which 
she  instituted,  and  for  which  she  has  been  criti- 
cised, were  inspired  by  a  thoughtful  affection 
for  him. 

When  any  one  told  her  of  the  criticisms  and 
gossip  to  which  she  gave  rise,  she  would  shrug 
her  shoulders,  and  with  a  vivacity  which  was 
natural  to  her,  would  say,  "  Really,  do  they  find 
fault  with  our  having  a  good  time  at  the  Tui- 
leries  }  It  is  as  little  as  I  can  do  to  give  some 
diversion  to  the  poor  Emperor,  who  is  worried 
all  day  with  politics,  and  to  give  him  an  oppor- 
tunity to  see  some  pretty  women." 

The  above' being  repeated  caused  gossip  ;  the 
blue  stockings  did  not  forgive  what  she  said 
about  the  "  pretty  women."  These  words,  added 
to  what  she  had  said  about  married  women,  in- 
creased her  reputation  for  frivolity.  This  frivol- 
ity, moreover,  although  more  apparent  than  real. 


72  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

was  made  capital  of  by  some  of  the  women 
about  her,  and  by  Mme.  de  Metternich  in  par- 
ticular, who  appeared,  during  her  stay  at  the 
Tuileries  as  ambassadress,  to  have  been  the  evil 
genius  of  the  imperial  court,  and  to  have  tried 
to  ruin  the  reputation  of  the  Empress  in  the 
eyes  of  the  public.  If  her  husband  had  a  pas- 
sion for  the  Empress,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that,  for  her  part,  Mme.  de  Metternich  had 
never  loved  her.  And  a  word  she  dropped  one 
day  proved  that  she  harboured  against  her  an 
unkind  and  treacherous  feeling. 

It  was  at  Fontainebleau,  and  Madame  de  Met- 
ternich having  proposed  to  go  to  the  races  in 
short  skirts  so  as  to  have  more  freedom,  was  de- 
lighted to  have  her  suggestion  enthusiastically 
received  by  the  Empress,  who,  without  reflection, 
thought  this  but  a  pleasant  plan  for  amusement. 

Most  of  the  women  who  were  to  belong  to 
the  party  were  equally  pleased  with  the  idea  of 
short  skirts,  and  all  provided  themselves  accord- 
ingly. However,  one  of  them  was  distressed 
to  see  the  Empress  of  the  French  make  an  ex- 
hibition of  herself  in  such  an  eccentric  costume  ; 
and,  on  realising  the  inconsistency  of  it,  did  not 
hesitate  to  speak  of  it  to  the  instigator  of  this 
folly. 

Mme.  de  Metternich  then  appeared  much  sur- 
Drised. 


IN  HER  PRIl^ATE  LIFE.  73 

"What  harm,"  she  asked,  "will  the  Empress 
do  in  going  out  with  us  thus  ? " 

"  None,  doubtless,"  answered  Mme.  X ; 

"  but  I  think  this  costume  is  lacking  in  good 
taste,  and  is  not  appropriate  for  a  sovereign. 
Short  skirts  may  do  for  us,  but  not  for  an  Em- 
press." 

And  she  added  as  a  final  argument  :  "  Would 
you  advise  your  sovereign  in  Austria,  my  dear 
Pauline,  to  dress  herself  in  such  a  way  } " 

Mme.  de  Metternich,  imprudently,  then  re- 
vealed what  she  thought. 

"  Oh  !  "  she  exclaimed,  "  that  is  another  thing. 
Decidedly,  no,  I  would  not  persuade  the  Em- 
press Elizabeth  to  go  out  in  short  skirts.  But 
our  empress  is  a  royal  princess,  a  real  princess, 
whereas  yours,  my  dear,  is  Mile,  de  Montijo." 
The  phrase  is  cruel  —  atrociously  so.  It  may 
be  denied ;  but  I  affirm  that  it  was  said,  and 
that  I  repeat  it  literally. 

The  Emperor,  however,  was  not  duped  by 
the  sympathy,  more  or  less  affected,  of  these 
foreigners  who  filled  the  ante-chamber  and  the 
drawing-room,  and  to  whom,  notwithstanding 
his  opposition,  the  intimacy  of  the  Tuilcrics 
was  given  up. 

He  had  an  animated  discussion  on  this  subject 
one  day  with  the  Empress,  who  did  not  seem  to 
realise  her  imprudence. 


74  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

"  You  admit  to  your  friendship,"  he  said, 
"a  lot  of  people  who  wish  us  but  little  good, 
but  who  are  so  many  spies.  You  heedlessly 
tell  them  a  thousand  things  ;  and  Nigra,  Met- 
ternich  and  many  others  only  flatter  you  the 
better  to  learn  your  secrets.  Be  sure  that  every 
word  you  say  is  repeated  by  them  at  Vienna 
or  at  Turin.  You  trust  them  ;  and,  as  a  reward 
for  your  courtesy,  these  people  would  get  all 
they  can  out  of  you." 

Events  proved  that  the  Emperor  was  right. 
But  I  repeat  that  he  was  continually  at  war  with 
his  wife  as  to  her  general  deportment  in  her  life 
as  a  sovereign  ;  and  he  was  never  able  to  make 
her  adopt  a  satisfactory  course. 

The  frivolity  of  the  Empress  may  be  an  ex- 
cuse for  her. 

But  little  accustomed  in  her  youth  to  the 
ways  of  the  court,  as  I  have  already  said,  the 
monotonous  existence  of  the  Tuileries  was  a 
burden  to  her.  With  her  ardent  imagination 
she  felt  the  need  of  diversion  ;  and  we  need  not 
search  elsewhere  for  the  cause  of  her  many  in- 
consistencies, especially  those  which  belong  to 
the  last  years  of  her  reign.  From  this  lack  of 
balance  resulted  a  permanent  disorganisation 
in  the  family  life  of  the  Tuileries,  an  aspect  of 
gilded  Bohemia  in  all  that  related  to  the  court, 


IN  HER  PRiyATE  LIFE.  75 

and  also  a  fatal  and  bad  influence  on  the  govern- 
ment itself. 

The  Empress,  moreover,  at  times  would  real- 
ise that  the  raillery  and  criticism  which  were 
the  result  of  her  conduct  were  injurious  to  her, 
and  she  deplored  their  manifestation. 

I  give  here  a  letter,  the  beautiful  sentiment 
of  which  shows  that  she  suffered  from  this 
criticism  and  raillery.  She  took  part  in  a  new 
amusement  which  had  been  imported  to  the 
Tuileries,  —  Charades,  —  which  followed  tab- 
leaux of  women  too  scantily  attired,  and  which 
caused  a  scandal  in  the  papers  and  in  Parisian 
society.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  at  this  time 
the  Empire  was  at  the  height  of  its  power. 

July  13///,  i860. 

I  thank  you  for  your  nice  letter.  My  health  has 
been  better  during  the  last  few  days,  but  on  leaving  Fon- 
tainebleau  I  was  ill  in  mind  and  body  ;  I  admit  that  one 
reacted  on  the  other,  but  the  fact  is  I  had  fever  and 
such  a  severe  cold  on  my  chest,  that  I  was  obliged  to  lie 
down  in  the  daytime  two  days  in  succession,  which,  for 
me,  is  an  unheard-of  thing ;  but  time,  the  calm  of  Saint- 
Cloud,  and  a  slight  effort  on  my  part  have  put  me  on 
my  feet  again.  You  will  find  me,  then,  almost  well,  and 
delighted  to  see  you. 

Your  philosophical  reflections  are  very  fine.  The 
thing  is  to  practise  them. 

I  can  forgive  the  ill-will  which  has  not  hatred  for  its 
motive ;  but  when,  by  chance,  I  find  people  looking  for 


^6  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

wrong  where  it  does  not  exist,  and  tearing  their  neigh- 
bours to  pieces  en  amateur,  without  rhyme  or  reason,  I 
am  overcome  with  sadness  ;  for  I  say  to  myself,  one  must 
be  very  wiclced  to  find  pleasure  in  wounding  those  who 
stretch  out  their  hands  to  one ;  for  not  only  does  every 
blow  tell,  but  mistrust  takes  the  place  of  all  other  senti- 
ments, and  as  the  unknown  feeling  hides  under  the  mask 
of  friendship,  we  are  suspicious  of  we  know  not  what. 

This  is  why  I  was  so  sad  during  the  last  days  that  I 
was  at  Fontainebleau.  That  innocent  charade  exposed  in 
the  newspapers,  and  told  with  all  the  details  which  could 
only  have  been  given  by  an  eye-witness,  — to  see  one's  self 
given  over  to  that  ill-natured  publicity  of  parties,  or 
even  to  public  curiosity  by  a  friend  ...  or,  at  least,  by 
a  guest,  is  something  which  I  cannot  accustom  myself 
to.  Finally,  I  sum  up  all  that  I  feel  in  the  following 
words:  My  enemies  will  always  find  me  fortified  against 
them  !  I  cannot  say  as  much  for  my  friends.  Add  to 
all  this  my  natural  anxiety  in  regard  to  the  health  of  my 
sister,  who  is  much  better,  thank  God,  and  you  will 
understand  why  I  was  overcome  by  melancholy,  against 
which  I  generally  fight  successfully.  I  will  add  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who,  by  their  idle  talk,  would  deprive 
us  of  the  little  time  we  have  in  which  to  enjoy  freedom 
and  fresh  air,  that  if  they  knew  how  precious  this  time 
is  to  those  who  are  condemned  to  the  preoccupations  of 
the  present  and  to  anxiety  for  the  future,  they  would  spare 
to  us  this  oasis,  where  we  try  to  forget  that  we  must  go 
ahead  continually,  notwithstanding  the  passions  of  some 
and  the  fears  of  others !  I  have  written  you  a  very 
long  letter  to  explain  to  you  the  tear  in  the  corner  of 
my  eye  which  did  not  even  fall.  And  in  eight  pages 
sprinkled  with  mistakes  in  spelling  which  give  originality 


IN  HER  PRIVATE  LIFE.  J  J 

to  my  letters,  I  have   proved   that  I    forget  myself  in 
writing  to  you. 

Any  commentary  would  lessen  the  signifi- 
cance of  this  epistle.  I  leave  it  without  com- 
ment to  the  credit  of  her  who  conceived  and 
wrote  it. 

Moreover,  what  could  I  add  to  it .''  The  Em- 
press was  a  pretty  woman.  Let  us  take  her 
as  such,  without  expecting  anything  more  of 
her  than  grace  and  beauty. 


III. 

SPIRITUALISM    AT    THE    TUILERIES, 

A  GOOD  old  crank,  named  Henry  Delaage, 
who  was  one  of  the  high  priests  of  spiritualism 
under  the  Empire,  and  whom  I  knew  during 
the  last  years  of  his  life,  often  said  to  me  that 
at  the  Tuileries  "  strange  and  wonderful  things 
had  happened  ; "  and  he  would  mention  the 
name  of  a  man  who  was  much  talked  of  at  that 
time,  and  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  an 
extraordinary  'medium. 

Henry  Delaage,  notwithstanding  my  entrea- 
ties, avoided  any  explanation  of  these  spiritual 
manifestations,  which  had  astonished  the  Em- 
peror and  the  court ;  and  it  is  only  by  persist- 
ent research  that  I  have  been  able  to  collect 
some  interesting  facts  on  this  subject.  The 
name  of  the  man  cited  by  Henry  Delaage  is 
well  known  ;  his  name  was  Home,  or  Hume  as 
it  is  still  written  by  most  of  those  who  saw  him 
at  the  Tuileries.  But  the  facts  which  I  am 
about  to  relate  are  not  generally  known. 

Who  was  Home,  and  where  did  he  come 
78 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE   TUILERIES.  79 

from  ?  It  has  never  been  definitely  ascertained. 
He  called  himself  an  American ;  and  it  has 
been  conjectured  that  he  came  to  France  at 
one  of  the  most  important  periods  of  the  Impe- 
rial regime,  not  only  to  make  the  tables  talk, 
but  to  carry  into  execution  a  deeper  purpose  ; 
and  that  he  was  actuated  by  political  considera- 
tions, which,  as  we  shall  see,  were  linked  to  the 
events  which  followed  his  presence  at  court. 

Home,  in  a  word,  was  in  our  midst  not  only 
as  a  magician,  but  as  the  secret  agent  of  the 
Berlin  cabinet,  the  members  of  which,  reckon- 
ing with  the  dreamy  character  of  the  Emperor, 
and  calculating  on  the  eager,  impulsive  nature 
of  the  mobile  Empress,  attempted  to  use  Home 
as  an  important  factor  in  the  grand  operations 
of  its  projects. 

If,  in  fact,  events  did  not  seem  to  sanction 
this  supposition,  we  would  dismiss  it  as  alto- 
gether whimsical.  But  it  has  been  proved  that 
Home  had  for  a  time  a  real  influence,  if  not 
over  the  Emperor,  who  was  amused  by  him, 
at  least  over  the  Empress,  who  fell,  entirely 
and  passively,  a  ready  victim  to  his  power. 

It  would,  however,  be  absurd  to  attribute 
undue  power  to  this  foreigner ;  and  if  it  is 
legitimate  to  believe,  with  men  whose  memo- 
ries   and    affirmations  cannot  be  doubted,  that 


8o  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Home  disturbed  for  a  while  the  Paris  Cabinet, 
it  is  no  less  reasonable  to  conceive  that  he  dis- 
appeared without  having  fulfilled  his  mission, 
without  having  altered  an  iota  the  policy  which 
the  Emperor  followed  at  that  time,  and  which 
he  clung  to  with  energetic  obstinacy. 

However  this  may  be,  it  adds  a  strange  chap- 
ter of  triumphant  exoticism  to  the  history  of 
this  period,  which  discloses  how  an  adventurer 
forced  his  way  into  the  Tuileries,  and  by  the 
means  of  a  charlatanism  still  inexplicable,  im- 
posed his  presence  and  his  pretended  science 
on  an  Emperor  whose  advice  was  sought  by  all 
Europe,  on  an  Empress  and  a  court  whose  clev- 
erness was  proverbial. 

The  women  who  surrounded  the  sovereign, 
according  to  an  expression  used  by  one  of  the 
ministers  at  that  time,  and  marvellously  appli- 
cable to  their  enthusiasm,  "  communed  "  with 
Home.  It  was  a  continual  struggle  amongst 
them  as  to  who  should  claim  him,  who  should 
exhibit  him,  on  such  an  evening  in  her  salofi, 
and  be  his  willing  slave. 

They  thought  of  no  one,  talked  of  no  one, 
but  Home ;  and  this  infatuation  became  so 
apparent  and  suspicious,  that  the  public  noticed 
it,  and  the  French  press,  as  well  as  the  foreign 
press,  took  it  up  and  commented  on  it  severely. 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE   TUILERIES.  8 1 

The  Empress,  who  was  the  leader  of  this 
craze,  was  keenly  criticised,  and,  as  matters 
threatened  to  take  a  turn  little  worthy  of  her 
and  those  who  were  the  instigators  of  this  scan- 
dal, several  statesmen  came  to  the  Emperor  and 
told  him  of  their  dissatisfaction.  The  Emperor 
might  have  answered  them,  as  he  often  did 
when  they  came  to  him  with  some  new  tale  of 
the  frivolity  of  his  wife,  and  when  they  showed 
him  the  anxiety  that  her  eccentricities  caused 
them,  by  shrugging  his  shoulders  and  smiling 
knowingly ;  but  on  this  occasion  he  listened  to 
them  with  unusual  patience,  and  considered 
their  complaints  with  some  show  of  seriousness. 
He  recognised  the  justice  of  their  plea,  and 
issued  a  secret  edict  which  compelled  Home  to 
leave  Erance,  to  which  he  never  returned. 

With  the  absence  of  Home  his  almost  fatal 
enchantment  came  to  an  end,  —  that  mystical 
infatuation  which  had  taken  possession  of  the 
women  of  the  court,  and  which,  had  it  continued, 
would  not  have  failed  to  give  to  the  reunions  at 
the  Tuileries,  and  the  principal  official  salons  of 
the  period,  the  aspect  of  an  assembly  of  con- 
vulsionists.  Not  that  the  things  which  Home 
did  were  really  so  strange ;  to-day  we  would  be 
little  surprised  by  them.  But  occurring  at  that 
period  of  time   in  our  history,  they  could  not 


82  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

fail  to  make  a  sensation.  Since  then  we  have 
become  familiar  with  the  manifestations  of  hyp- 
notism ;  and  while  our  knowledge  of  the  science 
is  still  limited,  and  our  wonder  remains,  yet  the 
frequency  of  its  exhibition  has  accustomed  us  to 
its  presence  as  an  accepted  fact. 

At  the  time  of  the  Empire  there  was  no 
tenable  theory  of  occult  science,  ^and  what  was 
known  of  magnetism  from  books  was  but  a 
poor  preparation  to  help  one  to  realise  its  prac- 
tical issues.  Hence,  doubtless,  the  acclamation 
with  which  Home  was  received  by  that  society 
to  which  he  submitted  his  mysteries  and  to 
which  he  offered  a  new  religion. 

Commonplace  in  appearance,  what  was  strik- 
ing in  Home  was  his  intelligent  and  shrewd 
expression. 

His  d3ut  in  the  social  circles  of  Paris  was 

at  a  ball,  at  the  house  of  Madame  X ,  the 

wife  of  the  first  ambassador  from  Russia  who 
was  received  in  France  after  the  Crimean  War. 

Madame  X ,  although    separated  from  her 

husband  and  living  alone,  entertained  a  great 
deal,  and  especially  in  the  official  world.  Before 
the  dancing,  the  hostess,  who  had  introduced 
him  to  her  guests,  asked  him  to  give  an  exhi- 
bition of  some  kind.  He  did  not  need  much 
pressing.     Very  soon  the  pictures  and  the  fur- 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE    TUILERIES.  ^Z 

niture  began  to  move ;  the  former  swinging  to 
right  and  left  on  their  nails ;  the  latter  changing 
place  suddenly  and  by  jerks.  What  I  now  state 
I  can  vouch  for,  as  it  is  a  faithful  translitera- 
tion, almost,  of  a  memoir  which  has  been  en- 
trusted to  me ;  and  which  forms  part  of  the 
notes  I  have  used  for  this  book.  Therefore  I 
am  free  to  renounce  all  personal  responsibility, 
having  no  desire  to  be  accused  of  naivete,  or 
of  complicity  in  the  charlatanism  of  the  hero  of 
this  cause. 

Having  been  presented  to  several  of  the 
most  distinguished  women  at  court,  Home  saw, 
with  elation,  the  most  fashionable  salons,  if  not 
those  most  difficult  of  access,  opened  to  him, 
one  by  one. 

He  evidently  schemed  to  be  taken  up  by  the 
wife  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  minis- 
ters of  the  day,  and  having  won  the  good  will 
of  her  husband,  he  received  permission  to 
call,  stating  "that  he  would  show  his  host 
most  surprising  things  if  he  would  allow  him 
to  have  a  stance  at  his  house,  and  especially 
if  he  would  promise  not  to  cherish  a  scepti- 
cal attitude  towards  him."  Consequently  an 
evening  party  was  arranged  in  honour  of  the 
American.  The  minister,  however,  did  not 
yield   easily   to   the   influence   of    the   .spirits, 


84  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

which  incurred  Home's  displeasure,  and  there 
was  no    manifestation.       But    at    the   saloft   of 

the    Comtesse    de    B ,  and   the    Comte  de 

M ,    he    gave    evidence   of    his    mesmeric 

power.     There,  as   at   Madame    X 's,   they 

had,  if  not  their  money's  Worth,  at  least  their 
curiosity  satisfied. 

The  tables  moved,  the  candelabra  flew  to  the 
ceiling,  mysterious  music  was  heard.  The  Em- 
press, who  was  much  perplexed  at  the  recital 
of  this  occurrence  told  her  by  eye-witnesses  of 
the  scene,  became  eager  to  participate  in  the 
general  astonishment.  She  asked  a  friend  to 
bring  the  magician  to  see  her,  and  everything 
was  placed  in  readiness  for  a  seance. 

In  this  manner  did  Home  appear  at  the 
Tuileries,  where,  without  being  in  the  least  in- 
timidated in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor  and 
his  wife,  he  introduced  his  customary  per- 
formance. 

When  the  moment  for  his  exhibition  had 
arrived,  he  ordered  the  lights  to  be  turned 
down.  He  placed  a  round  table  in  the  middle 
of  the  room,  which  he  covered  with  a  cloth 
reaching  to  the  ground,  and  having  indicated 
to  each  one  his  or  her  place  at  the  table,  he 
invoked  the  spirit  or  spirits.  But  the  table, 
notwithstanding  his  entreaties,  his  threats,  re- 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE   TUILERIES.  8$ 

mained  motionless  and  silent.  Then  all  of  a 
sudden  it  spoke.  "  There  are  two  incredulous 
persons  present,"  it  said,  "the  Comte  Walew- 
ski  and  the  Due  de  Bassano.  They  must  leave 
the  room  before  the  spirit  will  be  friendly." 

The  Comte,  as  it  happened,  was  the  unbe- 
liever at  whose  house  Home  had  not  been 
able  to  produce  any  effect.  As  to  the  Due 
de  Bassano,  he  did  not  conceal  his  aversion 
for  the  adventurer,  who,  on  his  part,  avoided 
him.  At  the  request  of  the  Emperor,  somewhat 
jokingly  made,  these  gentlemen  left  the  room, 
and  Home  began  again. 

An  accordeon  placed  under  the  table,  but 
untouched  by  any  hand,  played  unknown  airs. 
Then,  addressing  himself  to  one  of  the  ladies 
next  him.  Home  asked  her  :  — 

"  Would  you  like,  Madame,  to  touch  the  hand 
of  some  one  you  have  loved  and  lost } " 

"  I  wish,"  said  Madame  X ,  "  to  touch  the 

hand  of  my  father." 

And  slipping  her  hand  under  the  table,  she 
did  not  have  to  wait  long. 

Very  soon  a  cold  humid  hand  touched  hers, 
much  to  her  dismay. 

The  King  of  Bavaria,  who  had  remained 
silent  and  attentive  in  a  corner  of  the  room, 
felt  a  grasp  on    his  shoulder,  and    the    breath 


86  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

of  some  one  in  his  face.  He  did  not  hesi- 
tate subsequently,  to  acknowledge  this  ex- 
perience, and  it  was  doubtless  due  to  this 
fact  —  real  or  imaginary  —  that  Home  was  re- 
ceived with  so  great  eagerness  at  the  Tuileries, 
and  wherever  the  court  was  accustomed  to 
meet. 

A  more  important  event,  which  caused  a 
great  commotion,  was  the  tragedy  which  oc- 
curred at  Home's  apartment  shortly  after  his 
reception  by  the  Empress. 

A  charming  man,  the  Marquis  de  B ,  was 

amongst  Home's  most  ardent  admirers,  and  he 
had  often  entreated  him  to  make  him  see  a 
young  girl  whom  he  had  loved,  and  who  had 
now  been  dead  for  some  time. 

The  American,  after  having  ignored  as  far  as 
possible  the  request  of  the  Marquis,  at  last 
reluctantly  consented  to  yield  to  his  wish. 

"Come  to  my  apartment  to-morrow,"  he  said, 
"and  I  will  bring  you  into  the  presence  of  her 
whom  you  loved." 

At  the  hour  agreed  upon  M.  de  B pre- 
sented himself  at  the  medium's  apartment, 
whereupon  the  latter  led  him  into  an  adjoin- 
ing room  and  left  him.  What  then  occurred .? 
Only  the  hero  of  this  adventure  knew ;  but  he 
carried  away  with  him  the  secret  of  his  vision. 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE   TUILERIES.  8/ 

Did  the  Marquis  de  B see  her  whom    he 

wished  to  see,  or  was  he  the  victim  (which  is 
probably  the  case)  of  a  frightful  and  mad  dream  ? 
Did  his  unbalanced  mind  suddenly  go  to  pieces  ? 

When  Home  entered  the  room,  M.  de  B 

was  lying  at  full  length  on  the  floor  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed,  and  all  sign  of  life  was  gone  ;  a 
sudden  heart-failure  had  killed  him. 

Those  about  the  Emperor  asked  themselves, 
after  this  accident,  if  it  were  not  time  to  put  a 
stop  to  these  movings  of  the  spirit.  But  the 
Empress,  who  learned  of  the  plot  which  was 
being  planned  against  her  prot(fge,  interposed  ; 
and  Home  more  than  ever  was  received  at  the 
court. 

He  became  so  intimate  that  he  was  indispen- 
sable at  the  Tuileries ;  and  by  the  good  nature 
with  which  the  Emperor  bore  with  him  to  please 
his  wife,  by  the  enthusiastic  sympathy  which 
she  showed  him,  he  succeeded  in  re-establishing 
his  influence  in  a  manner  alarming  to  those  who 
continued  to  look  upon  him  as  a  skilful  actor, 
an  incomparable  trickster. 

One  day  when  the  court  was  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  —  it  was  on  a  Sunday  morning,  —  the 
Empress  proposed  to  the  ladies  who  accom- 
panied her  to  go  with  her  and  Home  to  a  kiosk 
on  the   lake.     They  all  agreed  to  this,  and  all. 


88  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

as  usual,  placed  themselves  about  a  table  which 
the  American  hastened  to  consult.  Amongst 
the  women  present  on  this  occasion  were  the 
Grande  Duchesse  Stephanie  de  Bade,  the  aunt 
of  the  Emperor,  also  her  daughter,  the  Princess 
Marie,  Duchess  of  Hamilton.  The  table,  hav- 
ing been  requested  to  talk,  remained  silent  for 
a  moment.  But  on  the  windows  of  the  kiosk 
there  was  suddenly  heard  a  deafening  sound  of 
hailstones  falling  with  violence.  Finally,  as  if 
by  an  order  from  Home,  the  spirit  decided  to 
break  the  silence  ;  and  the  frightened  women,  lis- 
tening attentively,  heard  the  following  words  :  — 

"  What  are  you  doing  here  .-•  It  is  Sunday. 
Your  place  is  elsewhere.  You  should  be  at 
church."    ^ 

The  Empress,  who  was  very  superstitious, 
arose  to  go,  taking  with  her  her  friends.  To- 
gether they  repaired  hurriedly  to  perform  their 
devotions. 

This  occurrence  is  easily  explained,  says  the 
memoirs,  which  I  have  consulted.  Evidently 
Home,  informed  of  the  religious  sentiments  of 
the  Empress  by  some  one  who  knew  them,  put 
his  knowledge  to  good  account.  After  break- 
fast, this  same  day,  they  took  the  train  for  Paris. 

While  they  were  still  on  the  cars  a  magical 
scene  took  place.     Home,  who  never  left  the 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE   TUILERIES.  89 

Empress'  side,  and  whose  place  was  assigned 
him  wherever  she  went,  was  seated  in  the  middle 
of  the  drawing-room  car,  when  suddenly  the 
seats,  the  cushions,  the  ottomans,  the  tables, 
began  to  dance  diabolically,  knocking  against 
the  people  and  against  each  other. 

The  Prince  Imperial,  a  little  fellow  at  the 
time,  became  frightened  at  this  confusion  ;  and 
to  protect  him  from  being  thumped  about,  as 
well  as  to  comfort  him,  one  of  the  ladies  was 
obliged  to  take  him  in  her  arms,  and  to  hold  him 
the  rest  of  the  journey. 

These  facts,  which  I  have  taken  from  the 
memoirs  before  alluded  to,  will  seem  highly  im- 
probable to  most  of  those  who  read  them. 
However,  he  who  related  them,  and  from  whom 
I  quote  them  literally,  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant statesmen  of  the  Empire,  and  neither 
his  words  nor  his  writings  could  be  doubted. 

Neither  was  he  a  man  to  be  easily  imposed 
upon  ;  and  his  hostility  to  Home  proves  that  he 
had  no  faith  in  his  jugglery. 

"  Home,"  he  says,  "  doubtless  accomplished 
marvellous  things.  But  there  was  nothing  su- 
pernatural in  his  performances.  He  was  simply 
a  very  skilful  prestidigitator,  and  probably  had 
machinery  hidden  away  out  of  sight  with  which 
he  wrought  his  strange  wonders." 


90  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

It  seems  to  me  that  herein  lies  the  truth  in 
regard  to  this  would-be  magician,  this  adven- 
turer, who  had  for  a  while  such  a  real  influence 
on  the  court  of  the  Tuilcries. 

From  this  time,  moreover,  M.  Walewski, 
the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  notwithstanding 
the  infatuation  of  the  Empress,  waged  war  to  the 
utmost  against  the  medium.  He  made  up  his 
mind  to  rid  the  palace  of  him  ;  and  he  urged  the 
Emperor  to  put  an  end  to  the  ridiculous  state 
of  things  which  existed  at  court. 

He  writes  to  a  person  in  whom  the  Empress 
had  the  greatest  confidence  these  characteristic 
words  :  — 

"  Act  towards  the  Emjjress  as  I  have  advised  you. 
You  can  only  return  the  friendship  she  shows  you  by 
being  useful  to  her ;  and  we  can  only  be  useful  to  her 
by  telling  her  the  truth,  even  if  it  displease  her.  I  did 
not  set  the  example  of  speaking  to  her,  it  is  true,  for  I 
said  nothing  to  her.  I  reproach  myself  with  it  all  the 
more,  because  the  scenes  at  Biarritz,  which  I  have  heard 
of  since  I  left  her,  only  confirm  my  fears." 

This  letter  alludes  to  the  presence  of  Home 
everywhere  with  the  Empress,  and  his  familiar 
attitude  towards  her,  which  was  fast  becoming 
scandalous.  An  incident  had  added  to  the  in- 
dignation of  the  minister.  Home,  whose  influ- 
ence was  becoming  more  strongly  marked,  was 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE  TUILERIES.  9 1 

no  longer  satisfied  with  making  the  spirits  talk 
of  the  every -clay  concerns  of  life ;  he  took  it 
into  his  head  to  make  them  talk  of  politics 
even,  expressing  ideas  and  opinions  absolutely- 
opposed  to  those  of  the  advisers  of  the  Em- 
peror. 

One  evening,  for  example,  he  ventured  to 
make  the  mystic  pencil  trace  these  hnes — it 
was  just  before  the  events  in  Italy. 

"  The  Emperor  should  declare  war  and  deliver  Italy 
from  the  Austrians." 

The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  who  was 
present  at  this  scene,  could  not  control  his 
indignation.  He  was,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere, 
opposed  to  war,  and  this  adventurer,  coming 
here  to  oppose  his  policy  by  his  gibberish,  ex- 
asperated him. 

He  went  in  search  of  the  Emperor  the  next 
day,  and  had  a  decided  understanding  with  him. 

Notwithstanding  this,  the  American,  thanks 
to  the  protection  of  the  Empress,  retained  his 
power  for  some  time  longer.  And  it  was  only 
after  a  stay  at  Biarritz,  where  Home  very 
nearly  compromised  the  Empress,  and  pro- 
voked an  attack  on  him  by  several  foreign 
papers,  that  the  star  of  the  medium  began  to 
set. 


92  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

"  I  am  delighted  to  learn,"  writes  the  minister,  "  that 
Home  is  losing  his  power.  But  I  hope  that  he  will  be 
caught  in  the  act,  for  I  believe  him  to  be  a  prestidigi- 
tator, a  juggler,  in  a  word,  an  adventurer  who  has  been 
clever  enough  to  ingratiate  himself  at  the  Tuileries ;  and 
I  hope  they  will  inflict  upon  him  a  severe  punishment, 
and  that  he  will  be  turned  out ;  for  it  is  unpardonable  to 
deceive  so  audaciously  such  a  man  as  the  Emperor ! 

"  The  foreign  correspondence  has  taken  notice  of 
Home's  presence  at  Biarritz,  and  the  Belgian  papers  have 
been  stopped  on  the  frontier,  because  they  speak  disre- 
spectfully of  the  Empress.  There  are  very  strange  rumours 
in  Paris  in  regard  to  him.  No  one  can  understand  how 
she  can  take  into  her  intimacy  a  juggler,  one  who  at 
best  is  an  adventurer,  who  abuses  her  kindness  in  every 
way,  and  takes  advantage  of  the  intimacy  allowed  him." 

Home,  who  was  very  shrewd,  and  very  intel- 
ligent, understood  that  all  effort  would  be  use- 
less in  any  attempt  to  defeat  the  purpose  of  the 
minister,  and  he  was  right  in  thinking  so.  The 
court  having  returned  to  Paris,  he  was  never 
seen  again  at  the  Tuileries,  and  his  memory 
vanished  with  him. 

When  he  died,  in  Germany  I  think,  the  good 
old  fellow  of  whom  I  spoke  at  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter,  Henry  Delaage,  wept,  and  declared 
that  he,  whom  he  called  his  master,  had  come  to 
visit  him  before  he  returned  to  the  world  of 
those  spirits  who  had  so  often  answered  his 
questions.     A  little  while  after  this  he  himself 


SPIRITUALISM  AT  THE   TUILERIES.  93 

died,  wretched  in  appearance,  but  leaving  in  his 
room,  in  the  Rue  Duphot,  quite  a  fortune  care- 
fully hidden  away ;  fifty  thousand  pounds  in 
banknotes,  pinned  on  the  fronts  of  some  shirts 
locked  up  in  a  chest,  and  some  bills  amounting 
to  the  respectable  sum  of  several  hundred  thou- 
sand francs ! 

I  never  should  have  believed  that  trading  in 
spirits  could  be  so  lucrative. 


IV. 


HER    RELATION    TO    POLITICS. 

This  ought  to  be,  without  doubt,  one  of  the 
most  important  chapters  on  the  Empress  Eu- 
genie, partly  on  account  of  unknown  facts 
which  I  will  give  for  the  first  time  to  the  public, 
partly  from  the  letters  on  serious  subjects  writ- 
ten by  several  eminent  persons,  which  I  will 
here  publish. 

These  letters  and  these  facts  would  have 
remained  under  the  seal  of  the  State  for  an  in- 
definite period  yet,  had  they  been  in  its  posses- 
sion. Readers  and  historians,  therefore,  will 
perhaps  be  grateful  to  me  for  having  saved 
them  the  long  waiting. 

The  Empress,  as  I  have  already  said,  did 
not  really  show  herself  an  Empress  in  the 
general  discipline  of  the  court  until  after  her 
return  from  England.  Her  sojourn  amongst 
our  neighbours  was  an  opportunity  for  her  to 
observe  and  to  learn,  and  she  knew  fairly  well 
how  to  profit  by  the  example  she  had  before 
her  eyes. 

94 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  95 

It  must  be  admitted  that  she  always  was 
gracious  and  very  much  sought  after,  but  it 
was  not  really  until  after  her  return  to  France 
that  she  actually  held  court. 

The  Empress,  however,  displayed  through  all 
her  life  an  enthusiasm  for  everything  Eng- 
lish, and  her  zeal  in  patronising  everything 
English  is  not  at  all  surprising,  if  one  con- 
siders that  she  encountered  from  all  the  queens 
and  princesses  of  Europe  a  cold  politeness, 
whereas,  amongst  them  all.  Queen  Victoria 
alone  chose  to  show  her  a  sisterly  affection, 

I  have  already  shown  the  peculiarities  of  the 
Empress  in  her  private  life.  A  singular  fact, 
and  one  that  reveals  two  distinct  sides  to  her 
character,  is,  that  just  as  she  was  inconsistent 
and  frivolous  among  her  friends,  in  that  propor- 
tion did  she  show  determination,  definitcness, 
and  logic  in  the  questions  of  State  which  inter- 
ested her.  Her  politics,  underneath  which  one 
finds  a  continually  recurring  religious  idea  or 
principle,  did  not  deviate  one  inch  during  the 
seventeen  years  of  her  reign  from  a  consistent 
and  unvarying  policy ;  and  by  her  cleverness, 
which  was  undoubtedly  great,  she  often  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  out  her  own  ideas,  and  in 
defeating  those  of  the  ministers,  and  sometimes 
even  those  of  the  Emperor. 


96  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Those  who  have  been  accustomed  from  their 
faith  in  the  traditions  respecting  her  to  think  of 
the  Empress  as  a  "fatcvette,"  leaning  back  in  a 
comfortable  armchair  called  a  throne,  will  be 
surprised  at  this  description  of  her.  What 
follows  will  not  lessen  their  astonishment. 

And  here  we  must  ask  a  delicate  question  : 
Was  the  Empress  loved  by  the  court  and  the 
people .'' 

Apparently  she  was  loved  by  the  court,  but 
the  sympathy  which  she  aroused  was  a  peculiar 
kind  of  sympathy,  a  compulsory  sympathy,  if  I 
may  use  the  word,  not  spontaneous,  and  always 
under  the  constraint  of  fear. 

The  Empress,  in  fact,  the  opposite  of  the 
Emperor,  who  had  the  gift  of  arousing  devotion 
and  enthusiasm,  was  feared  by  those  who  sur- 
rounded her.  They  were  continually  perplexed 
by  her  varying  moods  of  feeling,  did  not  know 
just  how  to  act  towards  her,  and  found  them- 
selves at  a  loss  in  expressing  their  affection, 
whether  it  was  sincere  or  interested. 

As  to  the  people,  —  the  crowd  that  climbs 
lamp-posts  and  presses  forward  to  the  utmost 
limits  when  a  king  goes  by,  —  we  would  say 
emphatically,  no,  the  Empress  was  not  loved  by 
them.  Notwithstanding  her  beauty,  notwith- 
standing her  grace,  she  never  had  any  hold  on 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  97 

the  minds  or  the  hearts  of  the  people ;  and  just 
as  the  Emperor  was  very  near  to  the  people, 
at  least  during  part  of  his  reign,  so  she  was 
always  far  distant  from  them. 

As  a  queen  is  never  at  any  time  of  her  life  in 
direct  contact  with  the  people,  it  would  be  idle 
to  speculate  upon  the  cause  of  this  semi-hos- 
tility which  separated  the  Empress  Eugenie 
from  the  French ;  it  would  be  still  more  use- 
less to  try  to  find  the  reason  of  this  in  any  of 
the  political  views  of  the  Empress,  which  could 
not  have  been  generally  known.  Three  reasons, 
taken  from  the  domain  of  trivialities,  will  ex- 
plain better  than  any  others  this  hostile  indif- 
ference of  the  masses.  The  Empress  was  a 
stranger ;  she  was  not  the  daughter  of  a  king  j 
and  the  people  greeted  her  on  her  accession 
with  a  pun,  which  her  name  inspired.  There  is 
nothing  paradoxical  in  all  this,  and  it  is  well 
known  that  often  in  France  the  love  or  hatred 
of  the  mob  is  influenced  by  a  boji  mot.  The 
Empress  Eugenie  had,  however,  glorious  mo- 
ments, which  were  worth  far  more  than  the 
admiration  of  the  crowd  that  was  silent  before 
her.  She  compelled  this  crowd  to  cheer  her, 
when  at  Amiens,  at  the  time  of  the  cholera,  she 
went  to  the  hospital  alone,  having  forbidden  her 
women  to  follow  her.     On  other  occasions,  how- 


98  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

ever,  she  showed  a  neglect  of  the  poor  which 
will  never  be  forgiven  her. 

She  was  too  fond  of  surrounding  herself  with 
foreign  women,  and  she  did  not  understand,  or 
she  would  not  understand,  that  from  this  fre- 
quent contact  with  strangers  more  or  less  suspi- 
ciously regarded  by  the  public  mind,  resulted  a 
discontent,  a  reproach,  which  reflected  on  her. 
I  have  just  alluded  to  the  conduct  of  the  Em- 
press at  the  time  of  the  cholera  at  Amiens. 
She  was  indeed  brave,  although  she  often  de- 
clared, from  coquetry,  probably,  that  she  was  a 
coward. 

Her  courage  was  strikingly  exhibited  on  one 
occasion  well  known  to  contemporary  history, 
which  occurred  during  the  attack  of  Orsini,  cer- 
tain details  of  which  have  never  been  made 
known. 

On  the  evening  of  that  event  the  Emperor 
was  invited  to  a  reunion  which  the  Prince  Napo- 
leon was  giving  at  the  Palais  Royal,  and  in  the 
course  of  which  a  new  play  by  Augier  was  to 
be  given. 

Either  from  presentiment,  or  from  a  pretty 
woman's  caprice,  the  Empress,  before  the  lim- 
peror  left  for  the  hunt,  had  begged  him  to 
accept  the  invitation  of  his  cousin,  instead  of 
excusing  himself  and  visiting  the  theatre,  as  he 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  99 

meant  to  do.  When  Napoleon  returned  she 
sent  a  friend  to  try  to  overcome  his  obstinacy, 
and  to  persuade  him  to  yield  the  point.  But  in 
vain  ;  the  Emperor  was  unyielding,  and  he,  in 
turn,  urged  the  Empress  to  accompany  him. 

The  rest  is  known.  But  what  is  not  known 
is,  that  the  instant  the  bomb  exploded  at  the 
Opera  Mouse,  a  man,  bareheaded  and  haggard- 
eyed,  rushed  to  the  door  of  the  Imperial  car- 
riage, opened  it,  and,  with  a  dagger  in  his  hand, 
stood  on  the  step. 

Then  the  Empress  screamed,  sprang  from  her 
seat,  and  thew  herself  across  her  husband,  whom 
she  thus  covered  with  her  body,  so  protecting 
him  instinctively,  and  with  admirable  courage, 
from  being  reached.  But  fortunately  her  fears 
were  groundless.  The  armed  man  who  had  pre- 
sented himself  was  one  of  the  two  Alessandri 
brothers,  —  those  faithful  Corsicans  who  never 
left  the  Emperor's  side.  He  had  been  with  his 
brother,  on  the  lookout  near  the  Opera,  when 
Napoleon  III.  arrived,  and  had  hastened  to 
defend  his  sovereign. 

It  was  on  his  arm  that  the  Emperor,  who  had 
received  a  slight  wound  on  the  check,  and  whose 
hat  was  knocked  in,  leaned,  in  getting  out  of  the 
carriage.  One  horse  was  killed  outright,  and  a 
sea  of  blood  flooded  the  pavement.     The  Em- 


lOO  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

press,  who  that  evening  wore  a  dress  of  pink 
and  white  satin,  was  spotted  with  blood  ;  and 
when  she  appeared  under  the  peristyle  on  the 
arm  of  the  Emperor,  and  walked  up  the  stairs 
leading  to  her  box  with  that  wet,  red  spot  still 
upon  her,  the  people  observing  it  were  overcome 
with  emotion.  The  woman,  be  she  queen  or 
peasant,  who,  in  a  tragic  crisis  spontaneously 
assumes  such  an  attitude,  encourages  even  the 
faint  hearted,  and  is  a  woman  in  every  sense  of 
the  word,  supremely  brave. 

When  the  Emperor,  on  horseback,  was  shot 
at  by  the  pistol  of  Pianori,  which  was  turned 
aside  by  Edgar  Ney,  it  was  one  of  the  brothers 
Alessandri  who  seized  the  murderer  ;  and  as, 
dagger  in  hand,  he  was  about  to  make  forever 
impossible  any  repetition  of  such  an  attempt, 
the  Emperor  stopped  him,  saying,  "  Do  this  man 
no  harm  ;  be  satisfied  with  having  him  arrested." 

A  few  moments  after  he  rejoined  the  Empress 
in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  to  whom  he  narrated 
this  tragic  evenf,  but  she  betrayed  not  a  sign 
of  emotion. 

Another  anecdote,  less  serious,  will  again  indi- 
cate the  courage  of  this  woman. 

During  the  visits  she  made  to  Biarritz  she 
liked  to  go  far  out  to  sea  ;  and  for  the  purpose 
of   accommodating    her    whim    a   steamer   was 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  lOI 

Stationed  at  Bayonne  during  her  entire  stay. 
One  afternoon  a  tempest  overtook  the  little 
vessel,  and  it  was  approaching  the  port  in  a 
sorry  plight  when  another  difficulty  presented 
itself,  obstructing  her  safe  arrival.  The  pilot 
declared  that  the  sandbar  which  runs  across  the 
channel  of  Bayonne  would  prevent  them  from 
landing. 

A  terrible  squall  was  blowing,  yet  at  this 
announcement  the  Empress  did  not  flinch. 

She  was  calm,  passing  from  one  to  the  other, 
reassuring  the  women  particularly  who  were 
with  her,  and  who  were  trembling  with  fear. 
Notwithstanding  their  apparent  danger,  the 
pilot  came  to  her  and  said,  — 

"  Madame,  have  courage  ;  we  will  be  able  to 
cross  the  bar." 

The  pilot  gave  orders  to  cross.  When  they 
got  into  the  channel  there  was  a  terrible  shock ; 
the  vessel  went  aground,  and  if  an  enormous 
wave  had  not  lifted  her  and  carried  her  over, 
throwing  her  like  a  bundle  on  the  other  side,  in 
all  probability  there  would  have  occurred  one  of 
the  most  memorable  shipwrecks  in  maritime 
annals. 

It  was  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the 
steamer  landed  at  the  pier  where  the  Emperor 
and  a  large  crowd  were  waiting.     The  pilot,  on 


I02  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

their  arrival,  made  a  charming  and  ingenuous 
remark,  —  a  remark  characteristic  of  the  peo- 
ple.    Bowing  to  the  Emperor,  he  said,  — 

"  Sire,  we  were  only  able  to  cross  because 
the  Empress  was  on  board.  We  never  would 
have  accomplished  it  but  for  her.  She  brought 
•  us  good  luck." 

"  That  is  very  well  answered,"  said  the  Em- 
peror, "  but  do  not  repeat  the  experiment.  You 
have  had  a  narrow  escape  this  time.  If,  per- 
chance, you  had  not ! "  And  he  drew  into  his 
arms  the  Empress,  who  came  towards  him. 

These  few  details  and  anecdotes  having  been 
given  to  reveal  more  definitely  the  character  of 
the  Empress  Eugenie,  I  will  now  take  up,  without 
further  digression,  the  part  she  played  in  politics. 

I  have  said  that  she  took  very  little  interest 
in  home  politics,  and  that  her  influence  was 
principally  felt  in  foreign  affairs.  Hence,  it  is 
necessary  to  divide  into  two  parts  her  partici- 
pation in  the  aifairs  of  the  government.  During 
the  first  years  of  her  marriage,  the  Empress 
took  but  a  relative  and  platonic  interest  in 
politics.  It  was  only  after  the  war  in  Italy 
that  her  influence  made  itself  felt  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  Emperor,  and  that  her  taste  for 
politics    seems    to    have  developed.     Knowing, 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  103 

however,  the  authority  and  competency  with 
which  she  entered  into  public  or  private  ques- 
tions, it  is  likely  that  for  some  time  she  had 
been  observing  and  studying  the  situation,  and 
was  only  waiting  for  a  favourable  opportunity  to 
enter  on  the  scene. 

Having  been  named  Regent  at  the  time  of 
the  Italian  campaign,  and  having  given  evidence 
of  real  ability,  the  Emperor  consented  to  her 
initiation,  at  the  request  of  one  of  the  minis- 
ters of  foreign  affairs,  and,  henceforth,  she  was 
admitted  to  the  councils.  It  was  only  after  the 
appearance  of  a  pamphlet  headed,  "The  Pope 
and  the  Congress,"  signed  by  the  Vicomte  de 
La  Guerronniere,  which  was  one  of  the  causes 
which  prevented  the  representatives  of  the  dif- 
ferent powers  meeting  in  Paris,  that  she  ceased 
to  attend,  nor  did  she  return  until  the  period  of 
her  second  Regency. 

The  home  policy  of  the  Empress  Eugenie 
consisted  in  a  love  of  absolute  authority,  in 
an  obstinate  anti-liberalism,  which  culminated 
almost  brutally  in  1869,  when  the  spectre  of  a 
liberal  Empire  rose  before  her.  Very  jealous 
of  the  influence  which  any  one  might  have  over 
the  Emperor,  she  had  but  one  sole  object  in 
view  —  to  keep  away  from  the  Tuilerics  those 
whose  advice  ran  counter  to  hers  ;  to  suppress 


104  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

by  every  means  in  her  power  the  men  who  sur- 
rounded the  Emperor,  and  who  appeared  to 
impose  their  views  on  him. 

She  failed  sometimes  in  this  daily  struggle ; 
but  stie  also  had  victories,  and  in  the  last  hours 
of  her  Imperial  reign  she  gave  abundant  proof 
of  her  supremacy. 

Among  those  whom  she  hated,  and  whose 
tendencies  troubled  her  most,  were  General 
Fleury  and  M.  Emile  Ollivier.  The  mere  pres- 
ence of  the  General  exasperated  her. 

"  I  will  find  a  way  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  to 
deliver  the  Emperor  from  him,"  she  had  said 
one  day ;  and,  sure  enough,  she  got  rid  of  him 
by  having  him  sent  to  Russia  as  an  ambassador. 

Then  she  made  a  very  characteristic  re- 
mark, — 

"  Now,"  she  declared,  "  I  will  have  such  an 
influence  over  the  Emperor  that  he  will  not  be 
able  to  do  anything  without  my  knowing  it." 

One  after  the  other,  M.  de  Morny,  Comte 
Walewski,  Marechal  Ney,  and  M.  Mocquart 
aroused  her  jealous  fears. 

M.  Rouher  himself,  whose  absolutism  she 
shared,  as  well  as  his  re-actionary  ideas,  did  not 
escape  her  suspicions,  and  often  found  himself 
exposed  to  her  ill-nature  or  her  open  hostility. 

But  of  all  these  men,  I  repeat,  it  was  Gen- 


HER  RELATION  TO  POLITICS.  105 

eral  Fleury  who  gave  her  the  most  anxiety. 
Her  hatred  followed  him  up  to  the  last  mo- 
ments of  the  Empire,  and  when,  as  ambassador 
at  St.  Petersburg,  when  the  war  broke  out  be- 
tween France  and  Prussia,  the  General  insisted 
upon  being  recalled,  and  asked  for  an  appoint- 
ment from  the  Emperor,  according  to  the  prom- 
ise which  Napoleon  had  made  him  in  case  of 
unforeseen  and  grave  events,  she  violently  in- 
terposed, and  arranged  for  his  being  still  kept 
at  a  safe  distance. 

The  General,  she  knew,  encouraged  the  Em- 
peror in  his  plans,  that  is  to  say,  in  that  dream 
of  liberalism  which  was  never  out  of  his  mind, 
and  which  led  him,  without  much  entreaty,  to 
the  reforms  of  1870. 

In  her  eyes  the  General  was  regarded  as  an 
enemy  ;  she  looked  upon  him  as  such,  and  when, 
upon  Ollivier's  becoming  minister,  he  mingled 
his  voice  with  those  that  cheered  for  the  new 
regime,  she  displayed  such  open  indignation 
that  the  Emperor  was  obliged  to  interfere,  and 
to  compel  her  to  write  to  his  counsellor,  if  not 
a  letter  of  apology,  at  least  a  few  lines  which 
would  modify  the  attitude  which  she  had  taken. 

"  I  received  on  Sunday,"  writes  General  Fleury,  in 
regard  to  this  matter,  "  a  letter  from  the  Empress  —  very 
reasonable,  very  calm,  and  very  sensible.     She  does  not 


I06  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

complain  of  what  has  been  done;  but  insists,  justly 
enough,  that  the  Emperor  made  all  those  concessions 
of  his  own  free  will.  I  think  she  is  quite  right  to  wish 
that  the  Emperor  should  get  the  credit  of  his  own  ideas. 
It  is  certain  that  his  former  counsellors  must  have  urged 
him  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  that  he  must  have  had 
a  strong  will  to  keep  from  going  with  the  reactionists." 

In  another  place  General  Fleury,  in  express- 
ing his  views  of  the  past  events,  outlines  his 
thoughts  in  the  following  curious  letter  :  — 

St.  Petersburg,  March  23. 

So  far  away  as  I  am,  seen  from  so  great  a  distance, 
small  mistakes  seem  of  little  importance.  Whatever  may 
be  the  agitation,  whatever  may  be  the  difficulties  which 
follow  the  peaceful  revolution  which  has  just  been  ac- 
complished, I  look  at  only  the  final  result,  and  that  result 
is  enormous.  By  his  wise  concessions,  the  Emperor  has 
disarmed  the  small  hostile  monarchical  parties.  He  has 
disarmed  the  accomplices  of  the  Orleanists  by  making 
them  ministers.  He  has  established  the  future  of  his 
dynasty  by  making  the  succession  transmissible ;  in  a 
word,  he  has  won  over  to  himself  all  those  who  wish 
to  overthrow  the  Empire,  by  making  himself  the  pro- 
tector of  liberty,  and  of  all  interests  opposed  to  dema- 
gogism  !  I  think  this  is  a  great  feat  accomplished,  and 
that  we  owe  a  great  debt  to  Emilc  Ollivier,  who  has  been 
the  flag  around  which  liberals,  parliamentarians,  Or- 
Icani.sts,  and  even  Imperialists  have  rallied. 

When  you  see  him,  tell  him  he  has  my  utmost  devo- 
tion, and  that,  moreover,  I  am  deeply  grateful  to  him  for 
the  great  service  which  he  has  rendered  to  the  Empire, 
and  to  the  country  at  large. 


HER  RELATION    TO  POLITICS.  lO/ 

The  Emperor  has  shown  a  sublime  calm  and  self- 
abnegation.  If  he  has  conceded  more  than  he  intended, 
it  is  the  fault  of  M.  Rouher  and  his  associates,  who  failed 
to  notify  him  in  time  of  the  change  of  opinion  in  the 
country.  Every  one  was  tired  of  being  of  no  importance, 
of  not  being  able  to  come  to  any  conclusion  —  hence  the 
3,500,000  votes  against  the  official  candidates  on  which 
they  had  counted.  It  is  evident  that  in  the  beginning  of 
this  new  order  of  things,  there  will  necessarily  be  mis- 
takes, exaggerations,  much  offended  and  wounded  pride ; 
but  what  of  it,  if  this  encouragement,  given  to  the  ambi- 
tions and  intelligence  of  the  people,  enables  the  Emperor 
to  die  with  the  assurance  that  his  son  shall  inherit  the 
throne. 

Here  we  can  make  no  mistake.  Our  sovereign  has 
lost  none  of  his  prestige.  The  Czar,  his  ministers,  the 
political  world,  all  understand  that  Napoleon  is  the  last 
rampart  against  a  revolution,  and  that  the  battle  he  is 
fighting  is  the  last  supreme  effort  of  European  mon- 
archy against  an  odious  demagogism. 

These  are  my  real  sentiments.  I  wish  my  convictions 
could  give  you  a  little  of  my  confidence  in  the  future.  I 
continue  to  be  well  received  here.  So  long  as  I  shall  be 
allowed  to  remain  at  this  centre  of  multifarious  issues,  I 
shall  be  glad  to  stay.  In  France  I  had  no  definite  place. 
In  Russia  I  can  be  of  service.  Moreover,  this  is  the 
opinion  of  the  Emperor,  who  wrote  me  by  the  last  mail 
that  he  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  position  I  had 
taken,  and  that  he  thought  I  could  be  very  useful  to  him 
at  St.  Petersburg.  Therefore  I  think  that  for  the  pres- 
ent I  shall  not  be  recalled.  I  would  add  that  I  have 
heard  of  several  kind  things  which  M.  Daru  has  said  of 
me.     The  Tour  d'Auvergne  has  confirmed  the  reported 


I08  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

goodwill  of  the  minister  towards  me.  Contrary  to  your 
fears  prompted  by  affection,  I  allow  myself  then  to  hope 
that  I  shall  be  permitted  to  finish  the  work  which  I  have 
undertaken.  If  it  were  not  in  bad  taste  to  speak  of  my- 
self, I  should  say  that,  politically,  they  would  make  a 
mistake  to  remove  me  too  soon. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  all  goes  well  with  you,  that 
you  are  satisfied,  and  that  your  relations  are  satisfactory. 
I  am  convinced  that,  with  your  intelligence,  you  will 
strengthen  them  and  make  them  more  intimate  still. 
You  can,  in  your  salon,  render  a  service  that  no  one  else 
about  the  Empress  is  in  a  position  to  even  attempt. 

Your  valuable  influence  over  the  diplomatic  corps, 
and  your  numerous  and  valuable  connections,  put  you  in 
a  position  to  play  an  unusually  useful  part.  In  this 
again  I  think  the  Emperor  shows  his  judgment,  in  giving 
you  a  position  which  brings  you  near  the  Empress. 

As  to  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  the  Empress  knew 
well  that  since  1866  there  had  been  negotia- 
tions between  him  and  the  Emperor,  and  that 
his  visits  at  the  Tuileries  —  clandestine  visits 
it  is  true,  but  all  the  more  suspicious  in  her 
eyes  on  that  account  —  had  commenced  early 
in  1867. 

Two  letters  of  Napoleon  III.,  referring  to 
these  visits  —  which  were  made  through  a  little 
side-door  —  are  conclusive, 

Jaiittary  S,  1S67. 

As  it  might  be  annoying  to  M.  Emile  Ollivier  to 
have  any  one  know  that  he  has  been  to  see  me,  tell  him 
to  come  to  the  Tuileries  to-morrow,  and  enter  by  the  little 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  I09 

side-door  near  the  river,  and  to  say  to  the  usher  Felix 
that  he  comes  from  the  Comte  Walewski ;  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  him  to  give  his  name. 

The  second  letter,  bearing  the  same  date, 
countermands  the  orders  given  the  "conspira- 
tor," and  appoints  a  new  rendezvous. 

"  I  beg  of  you  to  express  to  M.  E.  OUivier  how  much 
I  regret  to  have  given  him  an  appointment  for  Wed- 
nesday, having  forgotten  that  I  have  a  conference  of 
ministers  on  that  day  from  four  to  six  o'clock.  I  beg 
of  you  to  ask  him  to  postpone  his  visit  until  Thursday  at 
eight.  I  am  much  annoyed  at  this  oversight  on  my 
part.  .  .  ." 

The  Empress  conceived  for  him,  in  view  of 
these  facts,  a  deep  hatred ;  and  although  M. 
Emile  Ollivier,  later,  in  a  note  dated  1869, 
shows  his  sense  of  gratification  at  the  gracious 
reception  accorded  him  at  the  Tuileries,  it  re- 
mains no  less  certain,  that  it  was  with  an 
avowed  feeling  of  aversion  the  Empress  saw 
him  advance  into  the  secret  counsels  of  the 
Emperor. 

M.  Ollivier's  letter  referred  to  is  brief. 

November  9,  1S69. 

Magne  spoke  very  well  in  the  Senate.  I  was  much 
pleased  with  the  Empress  at  Toulon ;  she  was  charming, 
and  I  found  her  most  affably  disposed  towards  me. 

Daily  difficulties  resulted  from  this  attitude 


no  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

of  the  Empress,  from  this  hostility  which  she 
showed  to  different  statesmen,  and  from  her 
interference  with  the  affairs  of  state. 

Long  before  these  events,  the  Emperor  had 
had  occasion  to  contend  with  this  irritating  ten- 
dency ;  and  in  a  difference  of  opinion  which  one 
of  his  principal  ministers  had  with  M.  Fould,  in 
full  council  T—  the  Empress  having  taken  the 
side  of  the  latter  —  Napoleon  was  obliged  to 
interfere  to  bring  about  a  general  reconcilia- 
tion. 

A  letter  evoked  by  this  circumstance  from 
the  Emperor  is  rather  curious. 

I  write  you  because  I  rely  on  your  friendship  to 
assist  me  in  altering  a  condition  of  things  which  pains 
me  deeply,  on  account  of  the  sentiments  which  I  enter- 
tain for  you.  I  wish,  in  the  first  place,  that  you  would 
approach  the  Empress,  and  by  the  conciliating  attitude 
you  would  assume  towards  her  bring  to  an  end  the  mis- 
understanding between  you.  You  know  that  the  Em- 
press is  very  impulsive,  but  that  at  heart  she  is  very  fond 
of  you ;  one  word  of  apology  would  adjust  everything. 

Again,  I  also  wish  you  to  express  to  M.  Fould  a  regret 
that  you  spoke  to  him  as  you  did  at  the  Council,  in  a  way 
which  was  scarcely  polite. 

When  one  is  guilty  of  a  breach  of  etiquette,  it  is  only 
right  to  acknowledge  it;  it  should  not  be  humiliating  to 
do  so ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  part  of  a  gentleman. 
Otherwise,  it  would  be  impossible  for  ministers  to  con- 
tinue amicably  to  administer  the  affairs  of  a  nation. 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  Ill 

I  count  on  your  magnanimity  and  tenderness  of  heart 
to  bring  about  a  general  reconciliation. 

Is  it  necessary  for  me  to  tell  you  how  genuine  is  my 
affection  for  you  ? 

Despite  the  simple  and  somewhat  scolding 
tone  of  this  letter,  we  can  see  that  Napoleon 
III.  was  annoyed  by  the  interference  of  his 
wife,  and  that  he  tried,  if  not  to  make  her  ac- 
ceptable, at  least  to  make  her  conduct  tolerable, 
by  mitigating  as  far  as  possible  the  feeling  of 
wounded  pride  which  she  aroused  whenever  she 
tried  to  use  her  power. 

The  antagonism  which  existed  between  the 
Prince  Napoleon  and  the  Empress  is  too  well 
known  to  make  it  necessary  to  enter  into  minute 
details  touching  it  here. 

This  antagonism,  though  somewhat  modified 
by  the  sympathy  which  existed  between  the 
Empress  and  the  Princess  Clotilde,  educed 
from  that  constrained  and  reserved  affection  a 
new  element  of  duration  and  of  life. 

The  Princess  Clotilde  seldom  accommodated 
herself,  in  her  admitted  austerity,  to  the  co- 
quetry of  her  cousin ;  and  the  latter,  made 
defiant  by  the  indifference  of  the  Princess,  —  an 
indifference  which  was  voluntary,  and  not  to  be 
concealed  under  the  pretext  of  politeness,  — 
irritated  her  still  more.     Besides,  the  opposite 


112  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

natures  of  Prince  Napoleon  and  the  Empress, 
differing  fundamentally,  could  never  agree.  Both 
being  easily  excited  by  discussion,  by  ever-re- 
newed disagreements,  their  relation  grew  daily 
more  bitter.  The  great  and  endless  question, 
in  politics,  of  a  liberal  government  separated 
them  still  more,  and  the  Empress  did  not  allow 
the  Prince  to  go  near  the  Emperor  without 
watching  him  hke  a  spy. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  Prince  Napo- 
leon, and  most  of  those  who  remember  his  dis- 
agreements at  the  Tuileries  do  not  understand 
his  motive,  nor  the  end  he  had  in  view.  It  must 
be  acknowledged  that  Prince  Napoleon  was  one 
of  the  cleverest  men  of  the  century ;  and  if  he 
can  be  accused  of  want  of  tact,  this  lack  was 
often  caused  by  the  obstacles  and  vexatious 
opposition  brought  against  his  ideas,  against 
his  ardent  and  single-minded  nature. 

I  believe  that  he  loved  the  Emperor,  and  was 
devoted  to  him  ;  the  ideas  of  his  cousin,  on  the 
internal  policy  of  the  government  especially,  not 
being  unlike  his  own.  If,  during  the  reign  of 
Napoleon  III.,  he  obstinately  refused  —  and  with 
an  almost  hostile  opposition  —  to  fold  his  hands, 
as  the  Empress  required  ;  if  he  at  times  wore  an 
inimical  attitude,  this  attitude  was  owing  more 
to  the  unceasing  war  waged  against  him,  to  the 


HER  RELATION  TO  POLITICS.  II3 

unjust  suspicions  which  followed  him,  than  to 
his  own  inmost  feelings. 

The  Prince  had  a  clear  vision  where  the 
affairs  of  the  Empire  were  concerned.  He  pre- 
dicted its  success,  as  he  also  foresaw  its  fail- 
ure ;  and  his  unpopularity  resulted  not  so  much 
from  his  actions  or  theories  made  public  as  from 
their  being  misunderstood. 

Efforts  were  made  to  depreciate  his  impor- 
tance, when  it  would  have  been  wiser  and  more 
judicious  to  have  created  an  important  position 
for  him  in  keeping  with  his  ability.  He  suf- 
fered indignity,  attempts  were  made  to  bring  his 
name  into  discredit,  and  to  take  from  him  all  in- 
itiative, when  it  would  have  been  more  prudent 
to  have  allowed  him  liberty  of  action  and  the 
freedom  of  his  opinions. 

His  sense  of  personal  dignity  and  self-appre- 
ciation would  not  permit  him  to  accept  the  in- 
significant role  offered  to  him ;  and,  while  he 
consented  to  be  subservient  to  the  Emperor,  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  submit  to  the  patron- 
age of  a  woman  who  was  certainly  not  justified 
in  treating  him  with  studied  indifference. 

The  Emperor  deplored  this  misunderstand- 
ing, but  dared  not  take  any  decided  steps 
to  end  it,  dreading,  above  all  things,  domestic 
broils  and  political  disturbance. 


114  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

He  was  fond  of  the  Prince,  and  had,  to  speak 
familiarly,  a  weakness  for  him.  The  friendly 
feelings  of  his  cousin  were  not  unknown  to  the 
Prince,  and  he  was  assured  of  the  Emperor's 
goodwill ;  but  observing  that,  when  he  appeared 
at  the  Tuileries,  he  was  received  as  a  stranger 
with  haiitejir  and  reserve,  he  naturally  held  back 
and  did  not  present  himself  unless  officially,  and 
on  those  solemn  occasions  when  his  absence 
would  have  excited  comment.  I  have  in  my 
possession  a  letter  from  M.  Charles  Edmond  or 
Choie^ki,  which  is  typical  of  the  relations  exist- 
ing between  the  Tuileries  and  the  Palais  Royal. 
It  was  inspired  by  an  unfortunate  remark  which 
the  Prince  Napoleon  let  fall  regarding  the  Im- 
perial policy,  and  by  a  letter  from  the  Emperor 
published  in  the  Moniteur,  renouncing  all  claim 
to  the  words  of  his  cousin.  This  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  a  minister,  I  will  reproduce  without 
partiality  to  either  side.  Its  contents  will  put 
the  reader  in  a  position  to  judge  of  the  senti- 
ments which  animated  the  different  parties, 
better  than  any  narrative  of  mine. 

Paris,  March  22. 

My  DEAR  Friend,  —  I  will  state  to  you,  without  any 

waste  of  time,  the  result  of  the  measures  which  I  adopted 

after  our  conversation  of  last  evening.    The  effect  of  the 

letter  in  this  morning's  MonHeur  was  like  a  stroke  of 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  1  I  5 

lightning.  A  short  paragraph  in  the  Moniteur  would 
have  sufficed  to  admit  that  the  grievances  which  rankled 
him  were  legitimate.  Decidedly  he  has  overshot  the 
mark.  At  the  Palais  Royal,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to 
"  the  hand  that  struck  the  blow,"  and  it  is  generally  un- 
derstood that  the  projectile  was  thrown  by  the  vengeance 
of  M.  Billault.  One  tries  in  vain  to  conceal  one's  exas- 
peration, but  it  escapes  nevertheless,  it  gnaws  within,  it 
burns.  The  consequences  of  this  excitement,  of  this 
mental  torture,  will  be  deplorable  for  the  harmony  of 
the  situation  in  general,  and  for  our  cause  in  particular. 
The  enemies  of  the  dynasty  will  be  the  only  ones  to  re- 
joice at  it ;  they  aspire,  they  discuss,  they  drink  in  this 
poisonous  beverage  which  holds  discord  in  solution,  and 
with  which  the  Imperial  family  apparently  wish  to  quench 
their  thirst.  The  remarks  might  have  been  modified,  I 
admit;  but,  I  ask,  would  it  have  been  possible  to  have 
foreseen  the  consequences  the  day  before  they  were 
uttered  ?  You  remember  our  conversation ;  it  revolved 
around  two  points;  to  abstain  from  any  attack  on  Aus- 
tria, and  to  respect  the  Catholic  party  on  account  of  its 
noble  attitude  towards  the  Polish  question.  These  two 
ends  were  both  attained.  Of  the  Emperor  Alexander 
there  was  no  question,  to  my  great  regret  and  disappoint- 
ment, I  admit ;  otherwise  nothing  would  have  been  easier 
than  to  avoid  any  inconvenience  of  personal  attack,  while 
extending  the  horizon  of  the  discourse  at  the  same  time. 
The  truth  itself  would  have  been  all-sufficient.  Nicolas 
was  a  cruel  man ;  he  rejoiced  in  the  suffering  of  those 
whom  he  regarded  as  his  enemies.  But  his  successor  is 
not  of  the  same  stamp.  He  has  a  human  heart ;  the 
freeing  of  the  serfs  must  be  accredited  to  him.  Alexan- 
der is  different,  yes,  he  is  good,  he  is  magnanimous,  as 


Il6  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

M.  Billault  says,  he  is  generous ;  but  his  attitude  towards 
Poland  is  such  that  this  man,  gentle,  good,  and  magnani- 
mous, finds  himself  condemned  to  even  surpass,  towards 
us,  his  father's  tyranny.  Put  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul  on 
the  throne  of  Russia,  on  the  condition  that  he  keep 
Poland  at  any  cost,  and  the  saint  would  quickly  turn  into 
a  cruel  wretch.  Place  the  crown  of  Russia  on  an  angel's 
head  and  the  angel  would  accomplish  in  Poland  the  work 
of  a  demon.  So  it  is  that  both  from  the  French  and 
philosophical  point  of  view,  and  to  our  great  advantage, 
we  could  have  shown  the  attitude  of  any  Russian  sover- 
eign towards  Poland.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  speech 
has  caused  trouble  to  the  government,  he  who  made  it  is 
not  the  only  guilty  one.  What  prevented  the  Emperor 
from  having  his  brother  give  it  to  him  in  full  the  evening 
before,  from  discussing  it  with  him,  from  correcting  it, 
nay,  more,  from  dictating  it  to  his  cousin  from  beginning 
to  end?  Has  the  spirited  and  extravagant  language  of 
the  Prince  Napoleon  never  been  heard  until  now.^  Has 
not  the  Prince  always  been  willing  to  follow  step  by  step 
every  line  of  conduct  which  has  been  marked  out  for  him 
in  advance  ?  No  one  knows  the  Prince  Napoleon  better 
than  myself,  and  I  maintain  that  he  has  always  shown 
every  inclination  to  carrj'  out  all  preconcerted  lines  of 
action  planned  by  his  august  cousin.  Unfortunately,  such 
opportunities  have  been  offered  him  but  too  rarely  of 
late.  Moreover,  he  should  not  be  made  to  feel  the  entire 
weight  of  responsibility.  Others  should  have  their  legit- 
imate share.  Public  opinion,  which  looks  on  from  a  dis- 
tance, which  sees  but  imperfectly  and  judges  unjustly,  is 
convinced  that  the  Emperor  is  always  glad  when  he  can 
depreciate  the  Prince  Napoleon.  I  could  cite  in  proof 
of  this  a  dozen  instances ;  the  stupid  ones  take  for  per- 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  11/ 

fidy  what  is  in  reality  the  result  of  a  too  passive  kindness 
—  a  kindness  too  condescending  and  indifferent,  per- 
haps. Unfortunately  the  facts  seem  to  support  this  false 
and  absurd  point  of  view.  Others,  more  stupid  still,  in 
the  presence  of  such  an  adventure  as  that  of  to-day,  claim 
that  the  Prince  owes  the  greater  part  of  his  mortification 
to  the  hatred  which  the  Empress  entertains  for  him.  I 
am  speaking  of  the  official  world,  I  am  speaking  of  the 
court  circle,  I  am  speaking  of  a  number  of  individuals 
who  have  something  against  the  Tuileries  or  the  govern- 
ment, and  who  therefore  calumniate  the  character  of  the 
Empress  and  the  attitude  of  the  Prince  towards  her. 
For  years  I  have  not  left  the  Prince  Napoleon.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  day  of  the  Empress's  marriage.  The 
Prince  had  a  house  in  the  Rue  de  1'  University.  I  was 
with  him  that  morning.  His  drawing-room  was  filled 
with  a  crowd  of  people  whose  business  or  whose  past 
put  them  in  contact  with  the  French  populace.  The 
Prince  was  talking  to  them  and  giving  them  their  in- 
structions.    His  words  still  ring  in  my  ears. 

The  Faubourgs,  he  was  saying,  should  applaud  the 
young  Empress,  they  should  be  illuminated,  they  should 
show  their  sympathy,  for  the  wife  of  the  Emperor  is 
what  she  appears  to  be,  her  soul  is  in  her  face,  she  is 
as  good  as  she  is  beautiful ! 

Since  then,  on  many  occasions,  I  have  talked  with 
him,  or  rather,  heard  him  speak  of  the  young  Empress, 
and  whenever  she  was  mentioned  I  can  still  see  the 
smile  in  his  eye  as  well  as  on  his  lips,  as  one  smiles 
when  the  subject  under  discussion  gives  rise  to  senti- 
ments of  kindness  or  of  affection,  that  issue  from  the 
heart.  But  any  demonstration  of  feeling  is  distasteful 
to  him. 


Il8  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Well,  notwithstanding  all  this,  it  is  none  the  less  true 
that  the  relation  between  the  Tuileries  and  the  Palais 
Royal  is  often  strained,  and  to-day  it  is  more  so  than 
ever.  You  can  readily  understand  what  injustice  such  a 
state  of  things  does  to  the  dynasty,  to  France,  and,  last 
of  all,  to  our  poor,  dear  Poland.  You  can  judge  to  what 
point  it  will  be  desirable  to  solve  the  problem,  as  it 
should  be  done,  by  removing  the  chevetix  de  frisc  which 
blocks  the  way  between  the  two  residences.  To  arrive 
at  this  solution,  I  see  but  one  way,  and  we  must  consider 
no  other,  as  the  one  that  I  will  suggest  seems  to  me  to 
be  infallible. 

The  Comte  exerts  a  noticeable  influence  over  the 
mind  of  the  Prince,  an  influence,  the  intensity  of  which 
I  have  been  able  to  appreciate  ;  and  which  arises,  in  the 
first  place,  from  a  return  to  a  conscientious,  impartial 
and  just  judgment  of  the  value  of  this  high  dignitary ; 
next,  from  a  feeling  of  regret  for  the  past,  or,  if  you 
insist  on  my  using  the  word,  from  a  remorse  occasioned 
by  previous  unjust  judgment  and  misapprehension.  It 
is  the  Comte,  then,  who  can,  better  than  any  one  else, 
apply  the  first  dressing  to  the  wound  —  the  gentle  inter- 
vention of  the  Empress  would  accomplish  the  rest.  The 
Senate  is  to  open  a  discussion  on  Algeria ;  the  Prince 
is  to  speak.  Would  it  not  be  possible  that  on  this 
occasion  he  should  receive  a  letter  showing  at  least  as 
much  kind  feeling  as  the  one  addressed  to-day  to  M. 
Billault.  Moreover,  does  not  the  Polish  question,  of 
equal  interest  to  every  one,  offer  a  unique  and  mrr- 
vellous  opportunity  for  a  reconciliation,  and  for  removing 
the  misunderstandings  which  have  no  serious  grounds 
for  existence,  no  logical  and  justifiable  right  to  disturb 
the  intimate  relations  of  the  familv  ?    All  the  conditions 


HER  RELATION  TO  POLITICS.  1 19 

for  success  seem  to  exist  if  we  choose  to  make  use  of 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  should  we  deviate  from  this 
course,  what  good  can  result  for  any  one,  or  for  any 
cause  ?     Can  you  tell  me  ? 

Although  limited  to  some  extent  along  cer- 
tain circumscribed  lines,  the  -influence  of  the 
Empress  on  the  home  policy  was  not  so  slight 
as  fantastic  traditions  or  interested  narratives 
would  seem  to  make  it  appear. 

This  influence  had,  it  is  true,  a  playful  char- 
acter which  was  not  so  apparent.  It  was  only 
on  questions  of  foreign  policy  that  she  asserted 
herself,  that  she  hastened  events,  that  she  de- 
termined results  which  history  will  record  to 
justify  or  to  condemn  her. 

It  was  only,  I  repeat,  after  the  campaign  in 
Italy  that  the  Empress  united  her  efforts  to 
those  of  the  Emperor  and  his  colleagues,  on 
questions  of  general  politics,  and  particularly 
on  those  relating  to  our  foreign  policy. 

She  had  —  and  I  have  elsewhere  explained 
this  opposition  —  opposed  all  alliance  with  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel,  foreseeing  through  the  intensity 
of  her  religious  sentiments,  that  such  an  alliance, 
made  with  a  view  to  the  independence  of  Italy, 
would  endanger,  if  not  immediately,  at  least 
ultimately,  the  temporal  power  of  the  Papacy. 

Long  before  hostilities  were  declared  between 


120  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

France  and  Austria,  she  had  used  all  her  influ- 
ence as  a  woman  to  persuade  the  Emperor  to 
give  up  his  project,  and  several  violent  scenes 
had  occurred  between  Napoleon  and  the  Em- 
press on  the  subject. 

"  The  Italians,"  she  had  said  to  him  one  day, 
"  will  not  thank  you  for  the  blood  you  will  shed 
for  them.  And  if  you  think  to  secure  friends 
by  serving  their  ambition  and  their  vanity,  you 
are  in  error.  If  danger  threatened  you,  they 
would  turn  their  backs  on  you." 

A  much  more  important  discussion  arose, 
between  the  Empress  and  Napoleon  III.,  on  the 
approval  given  by  the  French  government  to 
the  Italian  claims. 

The  Empress  knew  that  the  Emperor  had 
entered  into  an  agreement  with  certain  politi- 
cians over  the  Alps,  and  it  was  the  memory  of 
this  agreement  that  gave  rise  to  a  hot  discus- 
sion between  them. 

"  You  are  the  plaything,  the  slave  of  Maz- 
zini !  "  she  exclaimed  on  one  occasion. 

And  as  the  Emperor  attempted  to  defend 
himself,  and,  without  denying  the  promises  he 
had  made,  sought  to  explain  them  to  her  by  re- 
conciling them  with  his  personal  tendencies, 
with  his  policy,  she  reproached  him  in  bitter 
terms  with  what  she  called   compromises,  and 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  121 

declared  that  out  of  "  all  these  things  "  would 
result  no  good  to  the  Imperial  dynasty. 

Who  can  ever  tell  whether  Napoleon  was  sin- 
cere in  his  enthusiasm  regarding  the  war  in 
Italy  ?  In  his  philosophy,  made  up  of  Utopian 
dreams,  did  he  believe  that  he  was  rendering  a 
service  to  humanity  in  helping  Italy  to  gain  her 
independence  ?  With  his  intelligence  and  fore- 
sight, did  he  reluctantly  side  with  a  people 
whose  sympathies  he  could  not  be  sure  of  ? 
However  this  may  be,  he  did  not  listen  on  this 
occasion  to  the  objections,  to  the  prayers,  or  to 
the  menaces  even  of  the  Empress,  and  with  the 
fatalism  of  a  consummate  gambler,  he  went 
resolutely  forward. 

He  hurried  on  events,  he  precipitated  their 
action,  as  if  he  wished  to  be  speedily  finished 
with  that  terrible  question  which  impeded  the 
progress  of  his  reign ;  and  long  before  the 
conflict  he  pronounced  himself  in  favour  of 
Victor  Emmanuel. 

"  Under  existing  circumstances,"  he  writes,  on  Febru- 
ary 21  St,  1857,  "it  is  impossible  for  me  to  depend  on  the 
accusations  of  Austria  against  Piedmont,  in  any  particu- 
lar, and  consequently  you  must  write  to  the  Due  de 
Gramont  not  to  support  in  the  slightest  degree  the  pre- 
tensions of  Austria  against  the  Comte  de  Beust." 

Contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  ministers  of 


122  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

foreign  affairs,  the  Emperor  in  his  proclamation, 
at  the  time  of  his  leaving  for  the  army,  had  de- 
clared that  he  would  go  as  far  as  the  Adriatic. 
The  Empress  was  opposed  to  his  making  this 
statement.  But  by  a  sudden  revulsion  of  feel- 
ing which  is  consistent  with  the  character  of 
this  woman,  when  the  Emperor  wanted  to  make 
peace,  she  was  opposed  to  any  halt  in  the  vic- 
torious march  of  our  regiments,  and  disapproved 
emphatically  of  the  interview  at  Villafranca. 

The  part  played  by  the  Empress  is  here  again 
somewhat  modified.  These  are  only  attempts 
on  her  part,  only  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of 
the  Emperor.  Her  part  will  be  more  important 
in  the  Mexican  question,  and  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  question,  banishing  to  a  secondary 
place  all  initiative  except  that  which  emanated 
from  the  Emperor. 

Presiding  at  the  councils  of  the  ministers, 
moreover,  after  the  Italian  campaign,  she  was  in 
a  favourable  position  to  participate  in  the  govern- 
mental and  international  discussions.  And,  as 
she  had  shown  in  her  Regency  an  amazing 
facility  for  assimilation,  the  Emperor,  conde- 
scending, or  fearing  fresh  domestic  discord,  per- 
mitted her  daily  thus  to  intensify  her  influence. 

This  initiation  of  the  Empress  into  the  coun- 
cils of  the  state,  had  an  object  in  view  which  it 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  1 23 

is  well  to  reveal.  The  Emperor,  annoyed  by 
the  frivolous  character  of  the  Empress'  mind  ; 
the  ministers,  anxious  to  stay  the  secret  attacks 
made  on  the  Empress,  resolved  to  offer  to  her 
imagination  some  diversion,  some  occupation 
more  worthy  of  the  rank  which  she  occupied, 
and  so  dissipate  the  accusations  of  frivolity 
which  were  brought  against  her. 

So  she  was  admitted  to  the  councils,  that  it 
might  be  no  longer  said  in  France  and  else- 
where that  she  only  thought  of  pleasure,  and 
that  it  might  be  seen  that  she  was  useful  to  her 
husband.  At  first  the  Emperor  objected  to  this 
interference  of  his  wife  in  political  affairs.  But 
he  finally  yielded,  I  repeat,  to  the  advice  of  his 
counsellors,  and,  as  much  for  the  sake  of  pleas- 
ing them  as  of  appearing  deferential  to  the 
wishes  of  the  Empress,  who  had  eagerly  taken 
up  the  duties  assigned  to  her,  he  resigned 
himself  to  the  situation. 

The  young  sovereign  was  charmed  with  the 
importance  which  was  thus  officially  given  her. 
In  her  instinctive  jealousy  of  every  one  who 
came  near  the  Emperor,  she  saw  in  this  impor- 
tance given  her  an  opportunity  to  weaken  their 
influence,  and  her  natural  vanity  was  flattered, 
being  the  only  wife  of  a  King  in  T^urope  who 
was  admitted   or   initiated  into    public   affairs, 


124  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

regardless  of  all  circumstances  which  compelled 
her  to  study  them.  From  that  time  she  out- 
lined her  policy  and  occupied  herself  actively 
in  all  that  interested  the  public,  as  well  as 
the  courts  and  the  cabinets  abroad.  Was  she 
indeed  to  blame  .-*  And  did  not  the  flattery  of 
those  who  surrounded  her  encourage  that  pride, 
that  self-assurance,  with  which  they  afterwards 
reproached  her  ?  And  was  she  not,  after  all, 
a  wife,  a  woman  in  love,  although  an  Empress ; 
and  does  not  that  jealousy,  which  was  evidently 
fatal  to  the  Imperial  policy,  deserve  to  be 
treated  with  indulgence  ?  The  wife  of  a  man 
on  whom  all  other  women  smiled  !  did  she  not 
have  the  right  —  the  right  of.  any  peasant  — 
to  aspire  to  be  the  only  woman  who  should 
render  homage  to  the  man  whom  she  loved,  and 
who  had  an  undreamed-of  power  of  inspiring 
the  affection,  the  devotion  even,  of  every  one 
who  came  near  him ,-'  This  is  the  domain  of 
romance,  and  we  are  writing  history  ! 

However,  allow  me  to  quote  from  one  letter, 
curious  in  more  ways  than  one,  which  demon- 
strates my  theory.  This  letter  is  from  M. 
Rothan,  who  has  recently  died.  It  alludes  to 
the  interview  at  Stuttgart  which  occurred  two 
years  before  the  Italian  campaign,  and,  although 
it   does  not  bear  directly  on  the  events  con- 


HER  RELATION  TO  POLITICS.  1 25 

nected  with  this  war,  it  reveals  enough  of  the 
homage  paid  to  Napoleon  III.,  and  the  flatteries 
which  came  to  the  ears  of  the  Empress,  to 
serve  as  some  palliation  of  the  jealousy  of  her 
woman's  heart,  if  not  of  a  sovereign's  pride, 
and  will  incline  one  to  forgive  her  much. 

Stuttgart,  September  28,  '57. 
My  dear  Friend,  — 

I  had  intended  to  send  you  each  day  an  account  of 
the  day  preceding.  But  how  can  one  write  in  the  midst 
of  all  this  excitement !     Yesterday  I  dictated  a  few  lines 

to  M at  the  moment  of  the  closing  of  the  mails.     I 

was  saying  that  the  Emperor's  success  had  been  com- 
plete, universal ;  that  all  eyes  and  ears  were  turned 
towards  him.  The  interest  in  him  increases,  and  he  is 
received  every  time  he  goes  out  with  ever-increasing 
enthusiasm.  Saturday,  before  dinner,  he  took  the  arm 
of  General  Bauer,  and  went  through  the  town  with  him 
without  any  other  escort.  In  the  midst  of  his  walk  he 
was  recognised,  and  was  immediately  surrounded  by 
an  immense  crowd,  which  followed  him  and  treated  him 
with  the  most  profound  respect.  General  Bauer,  alarmed 
at  his  responsibility,  urged  the  Emperor  to  go  in  some- 
where ;  but  S.  M.  paid  no  attention  to  his  entreaties,  and 
continued  his  walk  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd  with  a 
marked  feeling  of  satisfaction.  Yesterday  morning  on 
entering  the  church  and  in  coming  from  mass,  the  ap- 
plause was  renewed.  His  success  at  court,  and  with  all 
who  have  had  the  honour  of  approaching  him,  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired.  He  charms  every  one  by  his 
graciousness   and    his    simplicity.      He    captivated    the 


126  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Queen  from  the  very  first.  The  Queen  of  Holland 
was  in  love  with  him  before  she  saw  him ;  I  suppose 
by  this  time  her  head  is  completely  turned.  In  the 
midst  of  all  this,  the  great  and  impassive  personality 
of  the  Emperor  Alexander  is  scarcely  noticed.  There 
is  a  radiance  about  our  Emperor  that  seems  to  throw 
the  others  completely  in  the  shade.  The  Russian  lega- 
tion feels  the  difference  and  seems  almost  to  resent  it. 
The  Empress  Marie  has  arrived.  In  a  contest  for 
beauty,  elegance,  and  cleverness  she  would  have  lost, 
if  the  Empress  Eugenie  had  been  here.  So  far  as  I 
can  judge,  she  affects  simplicity.  At  a  big  dinner  last 
evening  after  the  play,  she  was  dressed  like  a  little  shop- 
keeper's wife,  without  any  crinoline  ;  a  modest  blue  dress, 
flat  on  the  hips  and  puffed  out  around  the  bottom.  There 
is  nothing  imperial  in  her  bearing ;  there  is  a  provincial 
air  about  her,  or  rather  the  air  of  the  small  German 
court.  You  know  she  is  not  the  daughter  of  her  father  ;  it 
is  well  known  that  she  is  the  daughter  of  a  M.  de  Grancy. 
Moreover,  before  her  marriage,  she  was  treated  at  the 
Court  of  Darmstadt  like  a  Cinderella.  The  Emperor 
took  her  in  to  dinner ;  the  Emperor  Alexander  escorted 
the  Queen  of  WUrtemberg,  and  presided.  The  King 
took  in  both  the  Queen  of  Greece  and  the  Queen  of 
Holland.  The  Emperor  Alexander  gave  the  toast,  but 
in  German,  which  roused  some  comment.  The  King 
answered  it ;  he  had  the  good  taste  to  answer  in  French. 
The  Russians  only  remained  until  the  beginning  of  the 
second  act.  The  Empress  was  said  to  be  slightly  indis- 
posed :  the  Emperor  held  his  own  until  the  end,  always 
attentive  and  kind  to  the  old  Queen,  who  was  left  alone. 

The  letter  ends  in  a  joking  tone. 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  1 27 

Amongst  other  Frenchmen,  we  have  here  a  M.  de 
Ladoucette,  who  asked  the  Mar^chal  de  la  Chambre 
(who  did  not  know  him  from  Adam)  to  invite  him  to  all 
the  entertainments  where  the  Emperor  was  to  appear. 
He  was  recommended  by  his  title  of  senator.  They 
were  good-natured  enough  to  take  this  request  seriously, 
and  M.  de  Ladoucette  is  seen  everywhere  without  having 
been  presented  to  any  one.  This  story  reached  the  Em- 
peror's ears,  who  was  very  indignant  at  it. 

In  the  main,  the  war  in  Italy,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  difference  of  opinion  it  gave  rise  to 
between  the  Emperor  and  his  wife,  left  her 
indifferent.  It  roused  no  real  and  feminine 
curiosity,  except  in  regard  to  the  new  cousin 
it  w^uld  give  her  by  the  marriage  of  the  Prince 
Jerome  Napoleon  with  the  daughter  of  Victor 
Emmanuel. 

I  have  in  my  possession,  copied  by  the  hand 
of  the  Emperor,  a  dispatch  which  the  Prince,  on 
his  arrival  at  Turin,  sent  Napoleon,  telling  him 
of  his  first  interview  with  his  future  wife  ;  and 
I  give  it  here  as  a  sample  of  love  mixed  with 
politics.  Philosophers  or  novelists  will  perhaps 
profit  by  it. 

Turin. 
Arrived    yesterday    at   three    o'clock.     Very  sympa- 
thetic reception  from  the  people.     Yesterday  the  King 
was  much  embarrassed  ;  everybody  excited  ;  conference 
to-night  with  the  Comte  de  Cavour;  situation  discussed 


128  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

and  explained.  He  understood  and  will  act  aright.  In 
the  morning  all  went  well.  Saw  the  princess  ;  satisfac- 
tory. Mutually  well  impressed.  The  King  very  cordial. 
Sent  some  one  at  once  to  General  Neil  to  make  the  offi- 
cial request.  All  will  be  done  according  to  the  wishes 
of  the  Emperor. 

The  political  influence  of  the  Empress  Eugenie 
would  surely  be  insignificant  if  it  did  not  extend 
beyond  the  debates  which  were  the  cause  of  the 
campaign  in  Italy.  But  this  influence  grows 
more  dominating,  until  it  embraces  everything 
a  few  years  later ;  and  when  the  opportimity 
for  a  war  with  Mexico  arises,  she  asserts  her- 
self and  forces  her  opinion  imperiously.  A 
thousand  things  have  been  said  in  regard  to 
the  Mexican  War ;  and,  in  fact,  all  that  has 
been  said  so  far  resembles  the  secret  of  Punch. 
Doubtless,  money  transactions  of  which  the  Em- 
peror was  ignorant,  vanity,  and  competition  were 
mixed  up  with  this  expedition ;  and  have  dis- 
torted not  only  the  end  it  had  in  view,  but  also 
its  point  of  departure. 

What  is  not  known  is  that  the  war  in  Mexico 
was  arranged  long  before  it  occurred,  as  a  novel 
is  planned  ;  and  it  was  truly  nothing  but  a  novel, 
the  last  page  of  which  was  suddenly  blurred  with 
blood,  to  the  great  surprise  of  those  who  intended 
merely  to  make  an  idyl. 


HER  RELATION  TO  POLITICS.  1 29 

The  affair  of  Mexico  was  a  fairy  tale,  in  which 
the  ogre  gets  the  best  of  Tom  Thumb,  nothing 
more,  nothing  less  ;  and  it  was  also  a  revenge  of 
the  Empress  on  Italy,  which  she  continued  to 
dislike. 

The  Empress  organised  this  expedition,  with 
Mme.  de  Metternich,  believing,  in  good  faith, 
that  they  could  make  Austria  forget  the  loss  of 
her  provinces  by  giving  her  a  distant  Empire  to 
manage.  By  and  by  the  capricious  and  enthu- 
siastic minds  of  these  two  women  saw  nothing 
in  this  creation  of  an  Emperor  and  an  Empress 
in  love  with  each  other  but  a  pretty  poem,  and 
they  did  everything  in  their  power  to  realise 
their  dream. 

For  several  years  the  relations  of  France  and 
Austria  had  been  very  friendly,  and  this  friend- 
liness had  been  sufficiently  strong  for  M.  dc 
Metternich,  since  i860,  to  control  affairs  not 
only  at  court,  but  also  in  certain  Parisian  pa- 
pers devoted  to  the  Empire,  as  the  following 
letter  will  indicate  :  — 

Wednesday,  December  4,  i860. 
My  Dear  Friend,  —  The  Patrie,  which  is  famous 
for  its  hostility  to  Austria,  quotes  in  its  issue  of  this 
evening  an  article  from  the  morning  Herald,  according 
to  which  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  in  order  to  circumvent 
the  plans  of  his  real  adversary,  '  would  be  disposed  to 
make  an  alliance  with  Victor  Emmanuel ! ' 


I30  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

M.  Delamarre's  paper,  instead  of  making  fun  of  this 
foolish  whim,  pretends  to  believe  it,  and  speaks  of  the 
cherished  illusions  at  Vienna  as  if  they  were  assured 
facts.  The  object  of  this  absurd  and  hypocritical  pro- 
ceeding is  easy  to  understand. 

I  write  to  ask  you  if  you  cannot  refer  to  this  absurd 
way  of  speaking  of  the  Patrie,  in  the  Pays  ? 

Forgive  me  for  troubling  you  with  this  newspaper 
matter,  but  you  know  me  well  enough  to  understand  my 
righteous  indignation  on  seeing  a  newspaper,  with  such  a 
circulation  as  the  Patrie,  throw  oil  on  the  flame,  when 
we  seek  for  nothing  better  than  to  extinguish  it  alto- 
gether. I  turn  to  you  in  great,  as  well  as  in  small,  things. 
Do  whatever  you  like  ;  whatever  you  do  is  right !  You 
need  not  answer  me.  I  will  see  you  to-morrow,  in  com- 
ing from  Thouvenel,  at  half-past  two. 

When  in  1861  — a  year  after  this  letter  was 
written  —  it  was  discussed,  in  secret  with  the 
Empress,  what  satisfaction  should  be  offered  to 
Austria,  the  unfortunate  Maximilian  and  the 
Princess  Charlotte  were  immediately  thought  of 
by  the  "conspirators"  as  those  who  should  ben- 
efit by  the  situation.  Gatherings  and  councils 
took  place  in  a  small  suburb,  at  a  little  distance 
from  Paris,  between  Mme.  de  Metternich,  M.  de 
Metternich,  M.  Hidalgo,  Mme.  d'  Arcos,  and  two 
or  three  other  persons,  who,  from  motives  of 
propriety  I  will  not  mention  here,  but  who  will 
be   easily    recognised  in    my    narrative.     They 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  131 

met  at  night  in  a  villa,  the  Empress  carefully 
veiled,  as  if  in  a  domino,  and  there  they  planned 
the  future  campaign.  M.  Hidalgo,  whose  ambi- 
tion was  great,  affirmed  that  the  Mexicans  would 
welcome  the  French,  as  well  as  the  Archduke 
Maximilian,  and  that  this  expedition  would  be 
but  a  pleasant  sailing  trip. 

M.  and  Mme.  de  Metternich  were  not  less  en- 
thusiastic ;  and,  in  order  to  please  the  Empress, 
approved  in  advance  whatever  she  proposed. 

In  vain  did  the  ministers  interpose  ;  in  vain 
did  the  Emperor  hesitate.  Nothing  prevailed 
against  the  decisions  of  the  "  Committee."  The 
Emprfess  and  her  friend  had  resolved  to  have 
their  romance  played  out,  and  were  only  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  write  it. 

The  Empress  was  also  influenced  by  a  per- 
sonal motive.  Still  very  Spanish,  despising  the 
Mexicans,  she  was  not  in  the  least  sorry  to  in- 
flict on  those  whom  she  looked  upon  as  rene- 
gades a  royalty  which  would  bring  them  nearer 
to  that  Europe  which  they  had  renounced,  and 
which  thus  would  bring  them  under  her  sur- 
veillance. Encouraged  in  these  ideas  by  the 
Spanish  society  with  which  she  still  corre- 
sponded and  held  relations,  she  determined  to 
carry  out  her  plan,  and  did  not  rest  until  she 
had  won  the  approval  of  the  Emperor. 


132  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Thus  from  the  dream  of  two  women  sprang 
the  most  terrible  tragedy  of  modern  times. 

The  facts  brought  to  Hght  in  these  pages  are 
serious,  and  would  doubtless  be  denied  were  I 
not  prepared  to  prove  them.  Again  a  letter 
will  substantiate  my  statements,  and  this  letter, 
signed  by  the  Prince  de  Metternich  himself, 
will  doubtless  be  adequate  proof  to  the  in- 
credulous or  to  the  ignorant.  Here  is  the 
letter,  just  as  I  received  it,  spelling,  punctua- 
tion and  all ! 

ChXteau  de  Kcenigswart 

Scptctnber  2yd,  1861 

My  dear  friend. 

I  begin  by  giving  you  an  idea  of  the  frightful  dis- 
tance which  separates  us.  Your  kind  and  interesting 
letter  was  seven  days  on  the  road  which  leads  from 
Biarritz  to  Kcenigswart,  just  about  the  time  required  to 
go  from  Paris  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  such  roads  ! 

I  traveled  two  long  days  in  coming  here  from  Vienna 
—  the  end  of  the  world  it  seems  to  me  —  and  we  real- 
ized what  the  exiles  in  Siberia  endure.  The  intense 
cold  adds  to  the  comparison.  Pauline  had  reached 
there  only  a  few  days  ahead  of  me.  I  found  in  com- 
pany with  Pauline,  my  sister  and  my  mother-in-law,  and 
we  had  two  visitors  —  a  remarkable  attention  —  General 
Benedeck  and  a  Saxon  friend  of  ours,  who  was  kind 
enough  to  give  us  the  most  convincing  proof  of  his  friend- 
ship by  coming  here  despite  the  inclement  weather,  the 
distance  and  the  abominable  coaches. 

I  availed  myself  of  my  stay  in  Vienna  to  call  atten- 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  133 

tion  to  the  project  in  question,  and  I  propose  reverting  to 
it  anew  with  my  august  master.  We  are  too  much  occu- 
pied with  our  home  affairs  to  allow  ourselves  to  drift 
into  Californian  dreams.  You  will  understand  that  I 
cannot  enter  here  into  certain  details,  as  I  have  at  my 
disposal  only  the  one  mail  coach  which  runs  through 
three  kingdoms  and  some  ten  principalities  whose  politi- 
cal curiosity  is  not  considerate  of  their  importance,  moral 
or  material.  Be  convinced,  however,  that  I  shall  prove 
worthy  of  the  confidence  and  the  grand  projects  with 
which  a  benevolent  spirit,  a  noble  heart  and  the  win- 
ning influence  of  the  '  black  domino '  have  inspired 
you. 

I  am  very  much  touched  by  the  fact  that  my  race 
apathy  and  my  repugnance  to  the  first  plan  of  the  cam- 
paign—  far  from  displeasing  the  domino  should  on 
the  contrary  have  influenced  her  somewhat  in  favor 
of  the  intentions  which  I  had  expressed  in  the  begin- 
ning. 

Please  say  to  any  one  you  know  tliat  the  question 
seems  to  me  to  be  entering  on  a  more  practical  phase. 
I  will  be  thought  very  egotistical,  but  as  long  as  1  am 
not  thought  ungrateful  I  do  not  care.  My  personal 
devotion,  moreover,  is  well  known  and  the  kind  wishes 
which  come  to  me  through  you  from  Biarritz  can  but 
intensify  a  sentiment  very  dear  to  my  heart. 

When  you  send  an  answer  let  me  share  your  kind 
messages.  Metter.nich. 

A  few  months  after  this  letter,  in  fact,  the 
Californian  scheme  began  to  take  shape.  The 
pretext  for  writing  the  romance  had  been  foimd. 


134  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

M.  Hidalgo  was  overjoyed  and  .  .  .  twelve 
balls  riddled  the  heart  of  the  unfortunate 
Prince,  the  unconscious  victim  of  a  court  in- 
trigue. 

The  display  at  the  Austrian  Embassy  and  at 
the  Tuileries  when  the  Archduke  Maximilian 
and  the  Princess  Charlotte  passed  through 
Paris,  on  their  way  to  Mexico,  is  well  known. 
What  is  not  known,  perhaps,  is  the  tragic  scene 
which  took  place  at  Saint-Cloud,  when  the  poor 
woman  returned  to  Europe  to  implore  assist- 
ance to  extricate  the  husband  whom  she  adored 
from  the  dreadful  state  of  things  in  which  he 
had  been  entangled.  Charlotte  was  in  the  scr/on 
of  the  Chateau,  surrounded  by  the  Emperor, 
the  Empress  and  the  entire  court,  and  she 
brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  all  as  she  stood 
there  in  her  anticipated  widowhood,  when,  all 
of  a  sudden,  she  drew  herself  up,  and  with  a 
bewildered  gesture,  asked  some  one  to  give  her 
a  drink. 

The  Emperor,  sadly,  deeply  chagrined  at  not 
being  able  to  come  to  her  assistance,  rose  and 
with  a  marked  courtesy  brought  her  a  glass  of 
water  mixed  with  syrup  of  orgeat. 

Charlotte  seized  the  glass,  looked  at  it,  and 
turning  her  eyes  towards  him  who  had  offered 
it,  thrust  it  from  her,  her  whole  body  shaken 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  135 

with  a  violent  tremor.  Then  shrinking  back, 
she  appeared  to  push  from  her  imaginary  spec- 
tres, and  muttered  in  frightened  accents,  — 

"  They  wish  to  poison  me !  .  .  .  they  wish  to 
poison  me ! " 

The  scene  was  lamentable,  it  was  tragic,  I  re- 
peat, and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  they 
succeeded  in  calming  her. 

She  was  cared  for,  meantime,  and  the  next 
day  had  no  recollection  of  this  momentary  ab- 
erration of  mind,  the  forerunner  of  that  perma- 
nent insanity  which  followed  and  which  perhaps 
was  more  humane  than  saneness  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. The  idea  of  poison  haunted  her 
once  more,  and  then  her  reason  fled  forever. 

At  Rome,  where  she  was  staying,  at  the 
Vatican,  a  scene  similar  to  the  one  at  Saint- 
Cloud  occurred,  and  the  Pope  was  obliged  to 
taste  first  the  food  that  was  offered  to  her 
before  she  could  be  persuaded  to  touch  it. 
And  again,  one  night  she  left  her  bedroom  and 
went  to  the  apartment  of  Cardinal  Antonelli 
and  tried  to  break  open  the  door.  The  prelate, 
discovering  her,  caused  her  to  be  led  back  to 
her  own  room.  After  this  her  sane  moments 
were  few. 

And  now,  amongst  all  the  queens,  thoughtless 
and  gay,  perhaps  loved,  she  will  be  known  as 


136  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

the  insane  Queen  until  her  death  —  /lasfa  la 
muerte  —  in  the  language  of  those  who  killed 
her  husband. 

Another  political  question  aroused  the  interest 
of  the  Empress  Eugenie  to  the  same  extent  as 
the  preceding,  but  from  a  different  motive.  I 
allude  to  the  Roman  question. 

The  weakening  of  the  temporal  power  of  the 
Pope  disturbed  the  Empress.  She  had  peculiar 
ideas  in  regard  to  the  internal  division  in  Italy, 
and  she  persistently  entreated  the  Emperor  to 
adopt  her  views. 

She  would  have  liked,  for  instance,  that  the 
Roumanians  should  have  been  brought  under 
the  dominion  of  St.  Peter,  that  the  power  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  in  the  north  of  the  Penin- 
sula should  have  been  divided,  and  that  Naples 
should  have  been  left  to  King  Erancis  II.  As 
to  the  other  governments  in  Italy,  they  con- 
cerned her  less,  and  she  was  not  interested  in 
them.  But  what  troubled  her,  what  caused  her 
sincere  grief,  was  that,  at  a  moment's  notice, 
the  Pope  might  become  the  subject  of  the 
King ;  and,  exa.sperated  by  this  thought,  she 
unceasingly  talked  of  it  and  of  her  fears  to 
the  Emperor,  who  resisted  her  appeals,  and 
was  even  obliged  to  interfere,  writing  a  letter 
with   his  own  hand  to  outline   his  policy,  and 


HER  RELATION  TO  POLITICS.  1 37 

to  repudiate  the  compromising    wishes    of    his 
wife. 

This  is  the  letter  :  — 

The  Emperor  did  not  know  in  advance  the  answer 
of  the  King.  He  v/rote  to  the  King  to  prevent  the  depu- 
tation from  Roumania  coming  to  Paris.  What  renders 
the  position  of  the  Emperor  a  difficult  one  is  the  convic- 
tion that  what  would  be  most  fatal  for  the  Pope,  as  well 
as  for  the  Emperor,  would  be  to  employ  foreign  forces 
to  bring  the  people  to  a  realisation  of  their  duty. 

The  Empress  had,  in  this  question  also,  two 
strong  allies  in  Mme.  de  Metternich  and  her 
husband.  The  Prince,  in  fact,  seconded  the 
wishes  of  the  Empress  and  did  not  hesitate 
even  to  support  them  before  the  French  cabi- 
net. The  letter  which  he  wrote  on  this  subject 
is  interesting. 

ChAteau  de  Koeningswart, 

September  27,  1862. 

My  dear  friend,  — 

One  of  my  friends  writes  me  that  you  are  made  anx- 
ious by  the  efforts  put  forth  by  the  extremists  to  bring 
about  new  concessions  in  the  Roumanian  question.  I 
assure  you  that  after  my  last  interview  with  the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress  at  Saint-Cloud,  I  do  not  believe  that 
party  to  have  the  slightest  chance  of  success.  The  words 
which  I  had  from  the  Emperor  himself  were  so  explicit 
that  1  have  come  away  with  the  conviction  (and  facts 
alone  could  cause  me  to  abandon  it)  that  the  status  quo 


138  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

will  be  maintained  at  Rome  as  long  as  the  French  Army 
cannot  honourably  leave  the  Eternal  City.  You  know, 
my  dear  friend,  how  much  I  pride  myself  on  being  able 
to  proclaim  boldly  the  faithfulness  with  which  the  Em- 
peror has  always  kept  the  promises  which  he  has  made 
to  me,  and  fulfilled  the  assurances  which  he  has  given 
me,  so  that  I  am  persuaded  that  the  Emperor,  while 
looking  after  his  interests  in  Italy,  will  not  yield  the  main 
point  in  the  situation.  Such  is  the  conviction  of  her 
who,  for  me  and  for  many  others,  personifies  the  dignity 
of  France,  and  the  honour  of  the  dynasty.  Please  re- 
member me,  if  you  have  not  forgotten  me  to  L.L.  M.M. 

Metternich. 

An  anecdote  will  also  show  what  obstinacy 
the  Empress  brought  to  bear  on  this  question, 
and  with  what  a  strong  will  she  bent  that  of  the 
Emperor  to  share  her  sentiments,  who,  it  must 
be  admitted,  entered  only  half  convinced  into 
the  defence  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Papacy, 
and  was,  on  several  occasions,  on  the  point  of 
abandoning  it.  But  the  threats  of  the  Empress 
invariably  prevented  him  from  carrying  out  his 
resolutions. 

During  the  war  in  Italy,  shortly  before  sign- 
ing the  treaty  of  peace,  when  every  one  was 
expecting  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  she  sent  a 
friend  to  the  Emperor,  with  instructions  to  find 
him  in  camp,  and  to  tell  him  from  her  that  he 
should  receive  from  Victor  Emmanuel  a  formal 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  139 

pledge  in  favour  of  Pius  IX.,  whom  she  wished 
to  have  absolute  in  the  states,  and  that  he  must 
not  forget,  under  these  circumstances,  that  he 
was  the  godfather  of  the  Prince  Imperial ; 
finally  that  any  abandonment,  even  relatively, 
of  his  interests  would  bring  misfortune  on  his 
son.  As  the  Emperor  paid  no  attention  to  this 
request,  she  was  for  several  days  much  dis- 
tressed. 

The  fears  of  the  Empress  relative  to  the  greed 
of  Italy,  were  not  without  foundation,  as  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  General  de  Montebello,  dated 
Rome,  December  9,  1 862,  will  show  :  — 

From  all  that  I  hear,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  are 
about  to  wrest  from  the  pontifical  government  certain 
insufficient  concessions,  which  will  satisfy  no  one  ;  and 
which,  if  they  have  the  advantage  of  allowing  M.  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys  to  present  himself  at  the  chamber  with  a  little 
more  favour,  will  not  advance  the  question  at  stake,  and, 
indeed,  may  injure  it ;  for  it  would  be  better  to  keep  it 
intact.  It  is  said  that  the  new  tactics  adopted  at  Turin 
means  rendering  up  this  claim  on  Rome,  to  take  advan- 
tage of  that  renunciation  to  obtain  the  withdrawal  of  our 
troops,  which  we  could  quickly  replace  by  an  armed 
force,  with  the  hope  of  becoming  quickly  master  of  the 
situation,  when  France  would  no  longer  be  there  to  pro- 
tect the  Pope  and  the  Papacy.  This  plan,  which  is  not 
without  ingenuity,  is  approved  by  the  Mazzinian  party  in 
Rome,  which  is  resolved  to  wait.     Although  I  am  on  my 


I40  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

guard,  I  attach  no  importance  to  the  reiterated  warning 
which  is  given  me  in  regard  to  a  plot  for  an  uprising  in 
Rome,  and  I  can  almost  assure  you  in  advance  that  there 
will  be  no  disturbance. 

However,  the  advisors  of  Napoleon  III.  worked 
resolutely  against  him  ;  and  M.  Magne  himself, 
who  was  not  an  alarmist,  was  obliged,  in  order 
to  successfully  oppose  this  influence,  to  lay  bare 
the  situation  before  the  Council  in  terms  which 
allow  of  no  equivocation. 

"  We  attempt  the  impossible,"  he  says,  ••  if  we  try  to 
conciliate  in  every  respect  Italy,  which  wants  Rome,  and 
the  Pope,  v/ho  wants  the  lost  states, 

"  It  is  evident  that  these  two  ends  are  irreconcilable  ; 
that  ten  years  hence  they  will  be  as  they  are  to-day.  To 
force  Italy  to  give  up  Rome,  and  to  force  the  Pope  to 
give  up  the  states,  a  stronger  will  than  theirs  will  be 
needed  to  overrule  them  ;  namely,  the  will  of  all  Europe. 
Is  it  really  impossible  to  accomplish  this  in  a  reasonable 
way,  by  leaving  to  Piedmont  what  force  has  established, 
what  time  has  already  consecrated,  what  a  large  part  of 
Europe  has  recognised,  and  which,  on  the  other  hand, 
would  insure  to  the  Pope  what  the  generosity  of  the 
Emperor  has  preserved  for  him  .'' 

"  Either  I  am  much  mistaken,  or  the  mass  of  opinion 
(with  the  exception  of  the  enthusiasts  on  both  sides) 
would  be  satisfied  to  come  back  to  the  principles  of  Vil- 
lafranca,  to  the  confederation.  But  we  are  already  too 
far  from  the  source  to  make  it  possible  for  us  to  go  up- 
stream ;  at  least,  I  fear  it  is  so  ;  and  I  see  so  great  a  gain 


HER  RELATION  TO  POLITICS.  14I 

for  us  in  renouncing  our  false  position,  that  I  would  will- 
ingly sacrifice  my  personal  views  in  favor  of  the  adop- 
tion of  the  status  quo  justly  established,  if  there  were  no 
way  of  obtaining  anything  better." 

There  was  thus  endlessly,  between  the  Em- 
press and  the  ministers,  a  daily  struggle,  which 
wearied,  which  exhausted,  and  which  weakened 
the  initiative  of  the  Emperor. 

The  Empress  and  the  Prince  Napoleon  agreed, 
by  a  strange  coincidence,  on  only  one  point  — 
the  Polish  question. 

When,  in  1863,  the  Emperor  was  strongly 
urged  to  take  the  part  of  Poland,  and  to  declare 
war  with  Russia,  the  Empress  was  ardently  in 
favor  of  such  a  war,  influenced  in  this,  as  in  all 
other  questions,  exclusively  by  her  religious  sen- 
timents. In  delivering  the  Poles  from  oppres- 
sion and  restoring  them  to  a  state  of  political 
independence,  it  seemed  to  her  that  she  was 
coming  to  the  rescue  of  the  Pope,  that  she  was 
upholding  his  authority,  and  that  she  was  giving 
more  freedom  to  that  religion  for  which,  under 
all  circumstances,  she  manifested  so  much  affec- 
tion. 

As  to  the  Prince  Napoleon,  is  it  necessary  to 
say  that  no  religious  considerations  entered  into 
his  political  calculations .-'  A  great  believer  in 
nationalities,  he  based  his  .sympathy  with  Poland 


142  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

on  altogether  different  causes  and  effects ;  and 
the  following  letter,  which  he  wrote  at  this  time, 
will  reveal  his  point  of  view  better  than  a  long 
analysis  of  his  feelings  :  — 

Palais  Royal,  Tuesday,  Aj>ril  2x,  iZb-^. 

I  have  just  read  an  article  in  yesterday's  Pays  copied 
this  morning  in  the  Co7tstitution7iel.  I  have  also  learned 
that  the  editor  of  the  Opinion  Nationale  has  been  sum- 
moned, to  prohibit  his  discussing  in  plain  terms  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  war  with  Russia.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
this  move  on  the  part  of  the  government  was  suggested 
to  the  Emperor  by  M.M.  de  Morny  and  Persigny.  The 
symptoms  are  very  serious  and  render  any  action  against 
Russia,  by  France  alone,  quite  improbable. 

The  Emperor  is  waiting  for  the  answer  of  Russia ; 
we  can  predict  that  it  will  be  mild  and  moderate  in  form, 
without  giving  any  real  satisfaction  whatever  in  regard 
to  the  Polish  question.  If  the  Emperor,  who  foresees 
this  answer  as  well  as  we  do,  desired  to  act  alone,  he 
would  make  preparations  to  do  so  ;  his  not  doing  so 
indicates  that  he  wishes  to  negotiate  still  further,  that  is 
to  say,  he  wants  to  temporise  until  any  expedition  this 
year  will  be  impossible.  England  and  Austria  having 
begun  triple  negotiations  will  not  allow  France  to  free 
herself,  and,  while  appearing  to  wish  for  a  diplomatic 
understanding,  will  prevent  us  from  doing  anything  alone 
by  force  of  arms. 

The  politicians  who  surround  the  Emperor  will  be  in 
favour  of  this  attitude  of  the  two  powers;  the  time  will 
pass,  the  Polish  insurrection  will  be  quelled,  and  we  will 
accomplish  nothing  this  year,  and  still  less  in  the  future. 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  143 

If  the  Emperor  were  anxious  to  act,  he  would  be  more 
decided  than  he  is,  and  he  would  not  yield  to  the  first 
obstacle  put  in  his  way  by  those  who  do  not  wish  him 
to  support  Poland  with  his  army. 

To  the  answer  of  Russia,  we  could  reply  by  new 
negotiations  with  Vienna  and  London ;  no  decision 
could  be  arrived  at ;  still,  the  lateness  of  the  season 
making  adjournment  impossible,  it  might  happen,  though 
I  doubt  it,  that  England  and  Austria  would  be  forced 
into  action,  in  which  case  we  could  do  nothing  more 
either  on  land  or  at  sea. 

The  war  resolutely  checked  to-day  might  still  be  re- 
newed, in  a  few  weeks  more  this  would  be  impossible ; 
and  if  it  were  undertaken  too  late  I  should  be  very  appre- 
hensive. I  sum  up  the  situation  then  as  follows  :  if  the 
Emperor  were  resolved  to  act  alone  without  losing  time ; 
if  surrounded  by  men  in  favour  of  this  plan  he  were  to 
make  the  necessary  preparations,  the  war  would  be,  if 
not  inevitable,  at  least,  possible,  and  every  chance  in  our 
favour ;  if  he  delays,  it  becomes  a  perilous  adventure. 
Moreover,  to  make  preparations  for  war  now,  were  to  pre- 
pare ourselves  for  war,  without  being  obliged  to  enter 
upon  it  unless  circumstances  proved  favourable.  All  of 
these  considerations  make  me  think  that  nothing  will  be 
done,  as  the  Emperor  has  not  yet  made  up  his  mind. 
We  have  often  discussed  this  serious  question  upon 
which  w^e  are  agreed,  hence  the  frankness  with  which  I 
express  to  you  candidly  my  sentiments. 

The  mind  of  the  Emperor  at  this  time  was 
not  entirely  swayed  by  his  wife ;  he  was  still 
able  to  resist  her  wishes,  and  he  did  not  go  to 


144  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

war  with  Russia.  The  Polish  question,  more- 
over, only  interested  him  relatively,  and  he  faced 
it  much  more  calmly  than  some  of  the  statesmen 
who  surrounded  him.  It  did  not  seem  to  him 
necessary  to  bring  it  forward,  and  so  make  it 
one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  European 
quarrels  at  that  time. 

The  future  verified  his  estimate  of  the  sit- 
uation. 

The  year  1867  saw  the  apotheosis  of  the  Im- 
perial regime  ;  it  also  saw  the  germ  of  influence 
which  the  Empress  had  sown  in  the  heart  of 
her  husband  grow  and  develop  rapidly. 

From  this  time  forth,  in  joy  and  sorrow, 
in  certainty  and  uncertainty,  she  asserts  her 
authority  over  the  Emperor ;  and  as  the  will 
of  Napoleon  III.  grows  weaker,  hers  grows 
stronger,  breaks  down  barriers,  and  marches 
on  with  long  strides  toward  the  supreme  rival- 
ries and  the  mad  revolutions  of  1870. 

When,  in  another  volume,  on  the  Second 
Empire,  I  come  to  examine  the  general  policy 
of  Napoleon  III.,  I  will  return  to  certain  points 
which  I  have  not  been  able  to  take  up  here. 

This  chapter  is  nearly  finished  and  calls  for 
a  conclusion.  But  what  conclusion  }  Alas  !  it 
appears  in  these  pages  that  the  thoughts  of  the 
Empress  soar  above  those  of  the  Emperor,  cover- 


HER  RELATION   TO  POLITICS.  145 

ing  him,  as  it  were,  with  a  fatal  and  ominous 
shadow.  It  would  seem  from  these  pages  that 
an  Empire,  founded  by  force,  was  wrecked  by 
the  smile  of  a  pretty  woman.  Is  this  any  reason 
for  condemning  those  who  were  charmed  by 
this  smile }  Does  not  history,  which  dispenses 
praise  or  blame  impartially,  teach  us  that  thrones 
built  with  the  sound  of  thunder  have  crumbled 
under  the  breath  of  enchantment  or  sorcery } 
This  is  doubtless  the  philosophy  of  resignation. 
But,  all  things  considered,  is  it  not  the  best .-' 


V. 

THE    EMPRESS    AND    SOCIETY. 

I  HAVE  already  said  that  the  foreign  courts 
were  continually  reserved  in  their  attitude 
towards  the  Empress  Eugenie  ;  and  the  coldness 
with  which  they  received  her,  from  the  time  of 
her  marriage,  never  entirely  disappeared,  in 
spite  of  the  distinction  and  brilliancy  which 
the  Emperor  gave  to  his  reign.  The  gay  world 
—  Parisian  society,  and  particularly  the  society 
of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  —  evinced  more 
than  hostility,  yes,  even  malice  towards  her, 
whom  a  psychological  accident  had  raised  to  the 
highest  rank ;  and  if  this  malice  and  this  hos- 
tility sometimes  abated,  when  there  was  a  ques- 
tion of  obtaining  some  favour  from  the  Tuileries, 
they  never  entirely  disappeared.  In  vain  did 
the  Emperor  make  advances  to  the  principal 
members  of  the  hostile  party,  in  vain  did  he 
offer  the  chair  of  senator  to  several  noblemen, 
already  ruined  or  about  to  be  ;  in  vain  did  the 
Empress,  whose  pride  it  must  be  admitted  suf- 
fered from  this  unmerited  scorn,  become  — 
146 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  147 

what  a  mockery  !  —  a  legitimist.  Nothing  could 
overcome  the  unfriendly  attitude  of  the  aristo- 
cratic set  under  the  Empire,  and  Napoleon,  as 
well  as  his  wife,  was  obliged  to  give  up  all 
hope  of  conciliation. 

It  must  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  the 
world  of  society  did  not  allow  itself  to  be  won 
over  by  the  charm  of  honorary  offices,  and  by 
the  advantage  of  remunerative  employments. 

Some  few  notable  men  or  women,  in  this  set, 
—  although  with  expressions  of  disapproval  — 
accepted  from  the  Emperor  or  Ii^mpress  what 
might  be  familiarly  called  "places,"  and  if  their 
consciences  did  not  reproach  them  for  accepting 
them,  they  at  least  showed  no  gratitude. 

The  aristocrats  could  not  be  comforted  for 
the  loss  of  their  rights  in  being  kept  away  from 
the  Tuileries ;  but  as  it  would  have  been  in  bad 
taste  to  appear  indebted  to  the  Emperor,  when 
he  sent  for  them,  they  took  this  attention  as  a 
matter  of  course  and  considered  it  as  their  due. 
The  remark  of  the  Marquise  de  la  Roche-Lam- 
bert on  this  subject  is  conclusive. 

On  being  told,  one  day,  that  an  old  relative,  a 
great  friend  and  adviser  of  M.  le  Comte  de 
Chambord,  had  accepted  an  invitation  from  the 
Emperor,  far  from  being  indignant,  she  answered 
in  a  most  natural  tone  :    "  M.  X has  done 


148  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

quite  right,  and  I  entirely  approve  of  his  con- 
duct. Why  should  his  presence  at  court  astonish 
you  ?  After  all,  these  Bonapartes  are  merely 
camping  in  the  chateau.  The  Tuileries  belong 
to  us,  and  we  are  always  at  home  there." 

Extraordinary  comedies  also  occurred  when 
the  Empress,  choosing  the  ladies  of  the  Palace, 
wished  to  put  on  her  list  one  or  two  names  be- 
longing to  the  close  aristocracy  of  the  Faubourg. 

One  of  these,  although  pleased  and  flattered 
by  this  distinction,  did  not  think  she  could  ac- 
cept until  she  had  had  the  advice  of  the  "  King  ; " 
and  she  made  a  special  trip  to  Frosdorff  in 
order  to  receive  authority  to  serve  the  Empress, 
or,  as  the  case  might  be,  to  answer  her  request 
by  a  refusal. 

The  Comte  de  Chambord  was  capable  of  con- 
siderable cleverness  on  occasion.  He  granted 
full  permission  to  his  gracious  suppliant,  and 
on  her  return,  she  immediately  took  her  place 
by  the  side  of  the  sovereign.  Amongst  all  the 
ungrateful  ones  she  alone  remembered  the  kind- 
ness of  the  Empress  ;  and,  on  the  Fourth  of 
September,  she  was  among  those  who  sur- 
rounded the  unfortunate  woman  and  remained 
with  her  until  her  departure.  But  these  evi- 
dences of  fidelity,  of  affection,  of  sympathy 
even,  were  not  common  in  the  particular  world 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  149 

of  which  I  am  speaking ;  and,  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say,  it  betrayed  weakness  on  the  part  of  the 
Emperor  that  he  should  allow  his  wife  to  show 
herself  kindly  disposed  towards  the  Faubourg 
Saint-Germain ;  and  it  exhibited,  moreover,  a 
serious  fault  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor,  that 
he  should  have  been  too  often  indulgent  to  the 
insults,  to  the  scorn,  and  to  the  outrages  of  a 
society  opposed  to  all  idea  of  progress,  to  all 
modern  evolution,  and  to  all  proper  feeling.  If 
he  had  broken  down  this  hostility  of  the  salons, 
as  he  ought,  as  he  could  have  done,  he  would 
have  turned  their  scorn  into  fear ;  with  all  the 
more  assurance  because  Napoleon  III.  was 
known  to  be  but  little  inclined  to  easy  victories, 
to  petty  annoyances,  to  personal  revenge  ;  and  if 
thereby  he  might  have  lost  some  affection,  he 
would  certainly  have  compelled  that  interested 
devotion  which  belongs  to  all  authority.  In 
politics,  no  point  should  be  neglected  ;  the  op- 
position of  the  salons,  dissolved,  annihilated  at 
the  start,  frowned  upon  from  its  foundation, 
would  have  put  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  an 
alliance  between  the  royalists  and  the  repub- 
licans who  later  made  the  break  in  the  Imperial 
policy,  and  fatally  led  him,  who  caused  the  Sec- 
ond of  December,  to  a  chance  plebiscite  and  to 
the  war  of   1 870. 


I50  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Everything  is  linked  together  in  history ; 
every  fact  is  born  from  another  fact.  The  Fau- 
bourg Saint-Germain  amused  itself  by  calling 
the  Tuileries,  under  the  Empire,  "  The  Court 
of  King  Petaud."  It  would  have  been  better 
for  Napoleon  III.  and  his  dynasty,  had  the 
term  been  more  reproachful,  for  terms  of  scorn 
are  often,  especially  in  politics,  an  involuntary 
homage  rendered  to  the  invulnerable,  to  a  power 
that  will  not  be  slighted  with  impunity.  In 
a  volume  especially  devoted  to  the  Emperor, 
and  which  will  follow  this  one,  I  shall  return  to 
this  subject  of  the  attitude  of  the  salons  under 
the  Empire  ;  and  I  will  publish  documents  which 
will  satisfy  the  public  of  the  good  faith  and  of 
the  honour  of  the  aristocratic  party,  in  their  un- 
yielding war  against  Napoleon. 

The  Empress,  doubtless  to  console  herself 
for  the  systematic  scorn  with  which  she  was 
treated,  and  in  order  to  forget  it  also,  gave  to 
her  social  gatherings  that  lightness  of  tone, 
that  thoughtlessness  and  folly,  with  which  she 
has  been  so  often  reproached,  and  which  con- 
trasted so  severely  with  the  formal  character 
of  the  receptions  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river. 

She  not  only  permitted  —  I  apologise  for 
the    expression  —  low   characters   to    be    intro- 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  151 

duced  to  her,  but  she  frequented  the  balls  of 
the  ministers,  principally  the  minister  of  the 
navy,  setting  the  fashion  for  an  eccentricity, 
for  a  levity  in  good  company,  which  pleased 
the  young  people,  and  gave  them  a  greater  inde- 
pendence than  was  consistent  with  propriety,  in 
their  manners  as  well  as  in  their  speech. 

In  this  laxity  of  etiquette,  if  not  of  customs, 
where  etiquette,  indeed,  was  but  little  heeded, 
events  occurred  which  pleased  her  in  her 
thoughtlessness,  but  which  brought  her  into  dis- 
credit. The  diplomats,  the  strangers  in  Paris, 
talked  of  this  license,  which  took  the  place  in 
the  French  salons  of  a  former  respectability, 
and  the  mockery  of  the  royalists  thus  seemed 
to  many,  even  to  the  indifferent,  justifiable. 
This  is  not  a  scandal-loving  chronicle,  and  I 
should  hesitate  to  reproduce  here  the  tales, 
more  or  less  true,  which  followed  every  appear- 
ance of  the  Empress  at  a  ball  or  at  an  evening 
party. 

It  seems  to  me  sufficiently  interesting  to  make 
known  the  romance  which  took  place  between 
the  Empress  and  M.  Caro,  a  romance  which  had 
no  sequence,  no  more  so  than  those  which  phi- 
losophers have  tried  to  attribute  to  her. 

M.  Caro  had  been  invited  on  one  occasion  to 
a  function    at   Compi6gne.     It  was   there   not 


152  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

only  that  he  first  met  the  Empress,  but  that  he 
entered  into  friendly  relations  with  several  per- 
sons of  the  court,  and  amongst  them  Mmes.  de 
Pourtales  and  de  Metternich. 

The  Empress  was  daily  in  the  habit,  on  re- 
turning from  the  hunt,  of  assembling  in  her 
private  apartments  a  few  of  the  distinguished 
people  who  lived  in  the  chateau,  to  chat  with 
her  over  a  cup  of  tea  while  waiting  for  dinner. 
These  little  assemblages  had  a  name  given 
them  ;  they  were  called  "  the  Empress's  teas." 

M.  Caro  was  always  invited,  and  distinguished 
himself  in  this  select  circle  by  his  wit  and  by 
his  conversation,  which  later  was  to  cost  him 
his  reputation  and  his  fortune  for  the  sake  of 
women  somewhat  or  altogether  disreputable. 

During  the  entire  time  of  his  residence  at 
Compiegne,  he  was  the  lion  of  every  occasion, 
and  his  obsequiousness  at  this  time  would  never 
have  led  one  to  foresee  his  desertion  and  hos- 
tility when  the  Empire  fell.  On  returning  to 
his  usual  mode  of  life,  he  seemed  dazed,  as  if 
fascinated  by  the  bright  vision  of  that  court 
which  he  had  just  left,  and  especially  was  he 
haunted  by  the  lovely  image  of  the  Empress. 

He  used  every  means  to  see  her,  he  catered 
for  receptions  at  different  houses  where  he 
knew  she  would  be  present ;  and  when,  finally. 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  153 

he  gained  admission  to  a  ball  given  by  Mme. 
Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  at  the  Foreign  Embassy  — 
a  costume  ball,  which  was  to  be  enhanced  by 
the  presence  of  the  Empress  —  his  joy  and  his 
anticipation  knew  no  bounds.  The  invitation 
was  at  this  time  a  mystery  to  him ;  and,  as 
we  will  see  further  on,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
attribute  the  compliment  to  the  Empress  her- 
self. 

M.  Caro  appeared,  then,  at  the  house  of 
Mme.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  ;  and  when  the  Em- 
press, masked  and  in  a  domino,  perceived  him, 
she,  being  entirely  ignorant  of  the  sentiments 
she  had  inspired,  approached  him  and  tried  to 
perplex  him. 

The  indiscreet  philosopher  was  literally  madly 
and  passionately  in  love  when  the  sovereign  left 
him,  for  he  had  recognised  her ;  and  when  M. 
de  Chasseloup-Laubat  gave  a  like  entertainment 
at  the  marine  department,  he  was  constrained  to 
express  his  joy  in  a  letter  to  one  of  the  ladies 
who  surrounded  the  Empress. 

"As  I  do  not  know,"  he  writes,  "  whom  to  thank  for 
the  invitation  which  I  have  just  received  for  Monday, 
allow  me  to  thank  you. 

"  I  only  care  for  this  invitation  for  the  sake  of  the 
chance  it  gives  me  to  meet  a  domino  that  scintillates 
with  wit,  whom  I  admired  greatly  at  Mme.  Drouyn  de 


154  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Lhuys'.  May  the  good  genius  of  fancy  balls  favour  me 
once  again,  and  give  me  wliat  I  ask  —  another  talk  with 
her !  She  has  such  a  touching  liistory !  If  you  only 
knew ! 

"  She  is  a  beautiful  young  girl ;  her  name  is  Pamela, 
,  .  .  her  sister's  name  is  Egl6.  .  .  .  She  has  just  come 
from  Marseilles,  where  one  day  she  was  nearly  abducted 
when  taking  the  air  in  the  Cannebi^re.  Poor,  charming 
young  girl !  You  can  imagine  how  impatient  I  am  to 
learn  the  rest  of  her  history.  While  waiting  for  me 
to  tell  you  the  rest,  accept  the  respectful  homage  of 
yours  most  sincerely. 

"  February  25,  '65." 

M.  Caro  does  not  tell  us  the  sequence,  as  he 
promised,  of  the  adventures  of  "  Pamela."  But 
a  year  after  this  ball,  he  sought  another  invita- 
tion to  be  near  her. 

Wednesday  Morning. 
Last  year  at  this  time,  I  think  I  wrote  you  — 

"  Qu^u/ie  illuslrc  inconiiue, 
Qui  ne  dit point  son  iiom  el  qu'on  n''a  point  revtie  " 

had  sent  me  [M.  Caro  attributed  his  invitation,  as  I  have 
said,  to  the  Empress]  an  invitation  to  the  fancy  ball  at 
the  naval  department ;  but  this  invitation  having  been 
addressed  to  me  by  an  intermediate,  left  no  record  on  the 
official  list  of  the  minister,  and  I  am  again  forgotten.  I 
assure  you  that  I  would  care  but  little  for  this  ball,  if 
I  did  not  hope  to  find  there  my  "  illuslrc  iiiconmie^''  If  I 
am  unable  to  find  her  this  year,  I  will  cease  to  trouble 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  1 55 

you  with  my  sorrow ;  but  if  you  think  she  is  to  be  there, 
can  you  make  it  possible  for  me  to  meet  her  ? 

This  is  a  real  Carnival  letter,  a  veritable  intrigue. 
Will  you  forgive  me  ? 

20  RUE  St.  Maur,  St.  Germain. 

The  romance  ends  here.  But  does  it  not 
give  us  a  fair  impression  of  the  folly  of  that 
somewhat  equivocal  liberty  which  reigned  in 
the  official  salons  of  the  Empire,  authorised 
by  the  thoughtlessness  of  the  Empress,  and 
which  the  Emperor,  alas !  in  his  kindness,  his 
indulgence  for  his  wife,  did  not  forbid  .-• 

This  story  may  be  said  to  have  had  a  se- 
quence after  all,  however ;  and  in  the  form  of  a 
pen  portrait  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  M.  Caro 
finished  it. 

It  is  rather  a  curious  piece  of  writing ;  it  has 
never  been  published,  is  not  known,  and  is 
herewith  produced  in  full  :  — 

Fragment  of  a  portrait. 

"...  In  vain  all  my  efforts  to  make  those 
who  never  knew  her  realise  that  countenance 
with  its  sovereign  charm  and  its  imperious  gen- 
tleness. There  is  no  record  of  any  man  being 
able  to  face  with  impunity  her  kind  but  pene- 
trating glance  —  as  winning  as  a  caress  that 
conquers  and  subdues  a  rebel  will. 


156  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

"There  are  two  things  which  a  man  could 
never  refuse  her  —  his  imagination,  which  she 
charms  ;  and  his  confidence,  which  she  takes  pos- 
session of.  Who  then,  enraptured  by  the  secret 
charm  of  her  conversation  and  of  her  glance, 
would  think  of  refusing  to  tell  her  a  secret  she 
wished  to  know  ?  Not  that  she  is  curious  in 
the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word.  She  is  but 
little  interested  in  the  scandal  of  the  day,  the 
gossip  of  the  moment.  She  is  in  no  sense  a 
gossip ;  she  neither  inspires  nor  encourages 
that  kind  of  cleverness  in  those  about  her. 
But  she  possesses,  in  a  high  degree,  political 
curiosity,  the  desire  to  know  with  precision  the 
different  groups  of  influential  men  in  the  gov- 
ernment, or  of  the  different  parties,  and  to  find 
the  secret  springs  of  each  eminent  character. 

"  It  is  with  this  object  in  view  that  she  uses 
her  supreme  gift  of  conversation.  She  inspires 
one  with  a  desire  to  trust  her,  she  tempts  one 
to  invent  secrets  for  the  pleasure  of  telling  them 
to  her.  The  great  temptation  one  feels  when 
with  her,  is  to  interest  her  at  any  cost. 

"  She  might  be  reproached  with  the  apparent 
universality  of  her  kindness  for  men  of  worth, 
as  well  as  for  certain  men  of  small  ability  who 
belong  to  her  suite.  It  is  irritating,  it  makes 
one  indignant  to  belong  to  this  throng.     How 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  157 

quickly  she  perceives  any  attempt  at  desertion, 
and  how  cleverly  she  baffles  it.  One  tries  to  free 
one's  self — impossible;  a  kind  word,  a  slight 
attention  from  her,  and  you  remain.  The  cour- 
age to  leave  was  but  of  a  moment's  duration. 

"  Is  she  clever  .<*  Yes  ;  but  we  must  under- 
stand each  other.  There  are  women  who,  in 
general  conversation,  will  shine  more  than  she ; 
yet  none  who  will  make  others  appear  so  bril- 
liant. She  has  a  keen  common  sense  which  is 
worth  more  than  the  thoughtless  ready  wit  in- 
tended for  effect,  which  one  often  regrets  or 
repents.  She  is  sure,  from  her  natural  sense  of 
justice,  of  never  saying  anything  she  will  regret. 
Her  words  do  not  always  seem  clear,  but  they 
always  ring  true ;  and  if  they  are  not  more 
emphatic,  it  is  because  she  herself  wishes  to 
modify  their  brightness  and  vivacity.  What 
she  loses  in  apparent  success,  she  gains  in  real 
influence.  She  judges  men  and  situations  with 
'  a  fine  perceptiveness  which  would  do  justice  to 
la  descendant  of  Machiavelli.  She  sometimes 
hesitates  in  expressing  herself,  from  a  certain 
awkwardness,  net  without  charm,  in  using  a 
language  which  was  not  hers  from  the  cradle. 
But  she  is  definite  in  her  impressions.  There 
are  few  women  who  have,  to  the  same  degree, 
a  political  sense,  and  at  the  same  time  the  mod- 


15S  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

est  courage  to  hide  it  under  the  elegancies  of 
fashionable  life. 

"  Instinct  is  the  real  secret  of  this  happy, 
fortunate  nature.  All  that  she  knows  of  the 
world,  of  life,  of  politics,  she  has  learned  by 
herself,  by  chance  in  conversation,  substituting 
instinct  for  culture,  for  reading  even,  for  which 
she  never  had  sufficient  leisure.  In  everything 
she  has  an  exquisite  naturalness,  which  is  in- 
creased by  a  matchless  sensibility. 

"  One  ambition  controls  her  life.  She  has 
but  one,  but  it  is  all-absorbing.  This  is  an  ex- 
alted devotion  to  the  grandeur  of  that  family 
which  she -has  helped  to  establish,  and  whose 
very  soul  she  is.  This  is  her  one  great  passion, 
from  which  all  others  spring.  Many  mistakes 
have  been  made  in  regard  to  her.  I  have  often 
heard  senseless  things  said  of  her.  The  secret 
of  her  life  lies  here.  Under  its  brilliant  and 
mobile  surface,  even  in  her  days  of  greatest  tri- 
umph and  of  apparent  intoxication,  here  lay  the 
vital  point  of  her  heart,  of  her  destiny." 

Since  I  am  writing  of  M.  Caro,  I  beg  permis- 
sion to  give  here  two  other  letters  from  him  ; 
one  full  of  expressions  of  affection,  the  other 
full  of  political  sentiments.  They  are  interest- 
ing from  more  than  one  point  of  view.  The 
first  refers  to  an  event  in  social  circles  which 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  159 

gave  rise  to  the  scandals  which  characterised 
the  last  years  of  the  Empire. 

The  Baronne  de  Mayendoff  had  given  some 
tableaux  in  his  house,  Rue  Barbet-de-Jouy,  and 
the  Comtesse  de  Castiglione,  having  appeared 
in  them  as  a  nun,  had  had  her  photograph 
taken.  One  of  these  photographs  was  sent  to 
M.  Caro,  and,  as  usual,  he  fired  up,  and  wrote 
the  following  answer  :  — 

You  would  be  most  kind  if  you  would  inform  me  to 
whom  I  may  express  my  thanks  for  the  beautiful  photo- 
graph of  a  nun,  whicli  you  have  been  so  good  as  to  send 
me !  What  is  the  address  of  that  mysterious  nest  which 
you  were  describing  to  us  the  other  day  so  well,  and  which 
recalled  the  verses  of  Lamartine,  — 

"  Semez,  semez  de  narcisse  et  de  rose, 
Semez  le  lit  oh  la  beauit  repose  I " 

I  know  that  this  beautiful  nun  lives  at  Passy;  but  I 
have  entirely  forgotten  the  rest  of  the  address  of  her  to 
whom  1  would  send  my  thanks  and  my  profound  regard. 

20  Rue  Saint  Maur, 
Monday  Morning,  Jan.  7,  1867. 

Would  it  not  seem  as  if  one  were  reading 
a  passage  from  "  Les   Precieuses    Ridicules  "  ? 

The  second  letter  is  quite  remarkable,  and 
shows  a  political  insight  which  is  astonishing 
from  this  man,  who  was  always  a  superficial 
thinker,  and  a  most  frivolous  observer.    This  let- 


l60  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

ter  contains  a  thorough  study,  a  satirical  study, 
of  the  social  world  of  the  Second  Empire ;  it 
also  contains  certain  predictions  and  statements 
which  are  unanswerable.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  they  were  written  at  a  time  when 
the  Empire  was  at  the  height  of  its  power. 

1  do  not  wish  you  to  be  able  to  accuse  me  of  eitlier 
inconsiderateness  or  forgetfulness,  which  you  would  not 
fail  to  do  if  I  wrote  to  you  there,  where  you  must  be  rest- 
ing with  so  much  joy  from  the  painful  excitement,  the 
thankless  and  fruitless  struggles,  of  the  feverish  and  exas- 
perating life  which  one  leads  in  Paris.  This  life  is  just 
as  you  left  it ;  in  the  foreground,  haughty  or  servile  ambi- 
tion, pride  more  and  more  puffed  up  by  reputation  and 
success,  and  those  who  think  they  have  solved  a  problem, 
which  grows  more  and  more  intricate,  when  they  have 
made  a  fine  phrase,  or  filled  with  gas  an  oratorical  bal- 
loon :  in  the  background,  a  crowd  of  intriguers,  who  spend 
their  lives  nursing  their  colossal  pride,  and  in  thinking 
everything  is  as  it  should  be,  when  it  would  be  so  much 
better  to  tell  them  the  truth,  which  is  quite  the  opposite. 

Look  at  the  official  world,  busy,  excited,  noisy,  vain, 
composed  of  men  who  deceive  others  or  allow  themselves 
to  be  deceived  ;  forgetting  themselves  in  their  affairs  ;  only 
living  from  day  to  day,  without  any  thought  of  to-morrow  ; 
putting  off  the  consideration  of  serious  questions,  and 
parodying  the  words  of  that  great  egoist,  Louis  XV., 
"After  me,  the  deluge!"  A  majority  in  the  Senate;  a 
majority  of  the  legislative  body ;  a  majority  of  the  minis- 
ters, is  it  not  their  secret  formula  and  their  unfailing 
means  of  escaping  the  necessity  of  thinking? 

And  all  this  time  the  slow  work  of  decomposition  is 
going  on  amongst  the  men  and  things  of  this  reign ;  a 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  SOCIETY.  l6l 

vague  anxiety  for  the  future ;  the  clashing  of  opinions 
more  and  more  suspicious,  more  and  more  irritable,  like 
a  great  malady,  which  seeks  an  outlet  in  new  hopes  and 
in  new  horizons ;  a  secret  indignation  at  neither  having 
the  promised  freedom,  which  is  ever  postponed,  nor  the 
consolation  of  the  victorious  situations  which  have  been 
lost.  In  all  this  there  is  at  bottom  a  weak  patriotism, 
which  has  not  the  courage  for  great  enterprises;  a 
wounded  patriotism,  which  would  like  to  have,  and  dreams 
of,  a  great  revenge,  but  won  without  either  pain  or  peril. 
For  fifteen  years  the  situation  has  been  unique  ;  full  of 
vague  desires  more  to  be  feared  than  attainable  realities ; 
full  of  fears  and  anxieties,  in  seeing  that  nothing  is  yet  on 
a  firm  foundation,  nothing  is  established  —  and  time  is 
passing,  nevertheless,  always  passing  —  that  we  are  living 
in  the  midst  of  the  precarious  and  the  provisional,  under 
the  shelter  of  expedients  which  will  not  exist  beneath  the 
shadow  of  institutions  which  are  being  founded.  To  such 
an  extent  is  this  the  case  that  the  diplomatic  postpone- 
ment of  the  war  is  not  considered  as  an  advantage  ;  or,  at 
the  best,  as  a  lesser  evil  than  the  one  that  threatens,  as 
a  delay  and  a  surcease,  which  will  only  profit  the  Exposi- 
tion Universelle,  and  not  the  country  itself,  which  remains 
under  the  pall  of  the  same  necessity. 

But  what  is  the  use  of  telling  you  all  this  ;  of  the  mal- 
ady of  the  present,  and  of  the  anxiety  in  regard  to  the 
future,  and  of  the  uncertain  devotion,  which  only  thinks, 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  difficulty,  of  getting  its  reward  in 
pleasure,  or  pride,  —  or  even  in  money. 

20  Rue  Saint  Maur, 
St.  Germain,  Fav.is,  May  ii,  1867. 

Alas  !  all  passes,  all  wearies,  says  the  prov- 
erb.    M.  Caro  was  no  longer  in  love  with  the 


1 62  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

domino,  with  "  VilhistTe  inconnue,"  v!\\q.x\  he 
wrote  these  Hnes,  and  he  was  singing  the  De 
Profundis  —  a  De  Profimdis  somewhat  prema- 
ture —  of  her  royalty  !  But  he  spoke  truly,  he 
saw  clearly,  and  this  page  marks  with  an  indeli- 
ble stain  the  egotistical  and  criminal  courtiers 
who  surrounded  the  Emperor,  who  encouraged 
the  Empress  in  abnormal  frivolity,  and  who, 
with  a  fear  of  rival  minds,  kept  away  from  the 
Imperial  counsels  all  who  were  capable  of  giving 
renewed  life  to  that  Empire  which  was  dying  of 
anaemia,  and  spurned  all  advice  capable  of  avert- 
ing the  impending  catastrophe  of  to-morrow. 


VI. 

THE  ROMANCE  OF  A  MARECHAL  OF  FRANCE. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  did  not  monopolise  all 
romantic  experiences ;  but  she  often  instigated 
the  love  affairs  of  those  about  her,  and  caused 
them  to  play  a  part  in  a  tragedy  or  comedy  for 
her  amusement  —  sometimes  even  in  a  vaude- 
ville. She  believed  in  matrimony  ;  indeed,  she 
was  haunted  by  it,  and  under  the  influence  of 
this  besetting  mania  she  made  several  matches 
during  her  reign,  generally  uncongenial  ones. 
Thus  she  made  the  Marquis  de  Caux  the  im- 
presario of  a  singer. 

It  would  be  ungracious  not  to  call  attention 
to  the  occasions  when  she  was  successful ;  and, 
amongst  these,  we  should  mention  the  marriage 
of  the  Mar^chal  Pdlissier,  Due  de  Malakoff,  to 
Mile.  Sophie  de  la  Paniega,  a  first  cousin  of  the 
Empress. 

This  marriage,  which  in  the  beginning  had  all 

the  charm  of  an  idyl,  would  have  no  right  to 

appear  in  this  book,  if  it  did  not  give  me  an 

opportunity  to  quote  the  letters  which  the  Ma- 

'63 


1 64  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

rechal  wrote  at  this  time,  and  to  throw  such 
light  on  the  character  of  this  man,  as  will  show 
him  to  be  gentle,  kind,  and  good,  and  with  a 
poetic  nature  which  we  would  not  suspect, 
and  which  we  still  can  scarcely  attribute  to 
him  with  positiveness. 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress,  as  is  well- 
known,  took  a  trip  into  Brittany  in  1858,  and 
in  the  month  of  August  of  that  same  year  they 
went  to  Cherbourg,  where  Queen  Victoria  vis- 
ited them. 

I  have  published  in  a  preceding  chapter  a 
letter  from  the  Empress  which  relates,  in  detail, 
her  arrival  at  Cherbourg,  and  so  will  not  en- 
large on  the  reception  she  received. 

The  Mar^chal  Pelissier,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  the  French  ambassador  in  London, 
was  in  the  Emperor's  suite ;  and  in  the  Em- 
press's suite  Madame  de  Montijo  was  conspicu- 
ous as  the  chaperon  of  a  charming  young  girl, 
Mile.  Sophie  de  la  Paniega. 

The  Marechal  Pelissier  saw  her  who  was  to 
be  his  wife  for  the  first  time  at  church,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  7>  Deuvi  sung  in  honour  of  Napo- 
leon and  the  Empress.  Mile,  de  la  Paniega,  in 
a  contemplative  attitude,  kneeling  on  the  floor 
of  the  cathedral,  according  to  the  Spanish  cus- 
tom, made  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  and 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MARl^CHAL  OF  FRANCE.    1 65 

heart  of  the  Due  de  Malakoff.  After  this, 
would  any  one  dare  to  be  sceptical  of  love  at 
first  sight,  so  serviceable  to  the  novelist  ? 

As  he  was  near  one  of  the  friends  of  the  Em- 
press, he  leaned  over  and  asked  her  the  name  of 

the  young  woman.     Mme,   X smiled  ;  she 

told  the  Marechal  the  name  of  his  fair  charmer, 
and  adding,  "  she  is  the  woman,  Marechal,  that 
you  ought  to  marry,"  left  him  to  his  own 
thoughts, 

Mme.  X told  the  Empress  of  the  con- 
versation she  had  had  with  the  Marechal,  and, 
the  plan  being  approved,  they  arranged  an  intro- 
duction. 

The  introduction  took  place  that  very  even- 
ing at  the  prefecture,  where  there  was  a  ball. 
Mile,  de  la  Paniega  appeared  resplendently  beau- 
tiful, in  a  simple  white  dress  with  a  coral  neck- 
lace about  her  neck.  When  she  was  told  the 
wishes  of  the  Marechal,  she  hesitated  for  several 
days  before  making  up  her  mind  to  marry  a 
man  so  much  older  than  herself,  whose  apparent 
character  and  whose  reputation  for  quick  temper 
caused  her  some  apprehension. 

But  her  hesitation  did  not  last  long,  and, 
urged  by  the  Empress,  the  marriage  was  ar- 
ranged. 

The  Marechal  sent  his  official  request  to  Mme. 


1 66  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

de  Montijo ;  the  wedding  took  place  at  Saint- 
Cloud  ;  and  having  camped  out  in  an  apartment 
which  he  owned  in  the  Champs  d'Elysees,  he 
left  for  London  with  his  young  wife,  where  he 
was  soon  recalled  to  be  sent  to  Algiers  as 
Governor-General. 

A  pretty  anecdote  has  been  told  me  of  the 
Marechal  Pelissier,  relating  to  his  traditional 
brutality ;  and  before  producing  his  letters,  or 
giving  to  the  public  his  romance,  I  will  relate 
it. 

It  was  some  time  before  his  marriage.  Hav- 
ing an  engagement  at  the  house  of  the  Comtesse 
de  Montijo,  he  entrusted  to  two  of  his  aides- 
de-camp  some  important  and  pressing  busi- 
ness. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening,  he  left  the 
salon  of  the  Empress,  and  in  a  moment  was  at 
his  apartment  ;  when  he  returned,  a  few  mo- 
ments later,  his  countenance  bore  the  mark  of 
an  anger  not  yet  entirely  appeased.  One  of  the 
ladies  present,  the  very  one  who  had  introduced 
him  to  Mile,  de  la  Paniega  at  Cherbourg,  ques- 
tioned him. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Marechal }  "  she  asked, 
"  and  what  has  happened  .'  "  "  Matter  enough," 
he  answered  abruptly,  "  my  two  aides-de-camp 
went  to  sleep  over  the  work  which  I  gave  them 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MARECHAL  OF  FRANCE.     167 

to  do.  But  I  vow  they  will  not  soon  close 
their  eyes  again  ;  I  have  fixed  them."    To  which 

Mme.  X answered,  "It  is  very  wrong  to 

lose  your  temper,  Marechal  ;  and  if  you  wish 
me  to  think  you  worthy  of  her  who  is  to  be 
your  wife,  you  must  promise  me  to  be  more 
indulgent." 

The  Due  de  Malakoff  suddenly  softened,  and 
with  a  look  of  astonishment:  —  "Then,"  he 
muttered,  "you  blame  me  .■'     I  was  wrong.  .  .  ." 

"Yes,"  replied  the  Comtesse,  "you  acted  in 
an  ungentlemanly  manner." 

Whereupon  this  much-feared  man  arose.  He 
again  went  out,  and  when  he  returned  he  went 
to  Mme.  X . 

"Well,"  he  said,  "am  I  still  a  boor?  I 
have  just  asked  the  pardon  of  my  two  thought- 
less fellows,  and  I  have  given  them  a  holi- 
day until  to-morrow.  I  am  so  happy  myself 
that  I  do  not  wish  any  one  about  me  to 
suffer." 

Does  not  this  anecdote  give  a  better  impres- 
sion of  the  man  than  a  long  analysis  ^  I  must 
add  that  one  of  the  officers  so  roughly  handled 
by  the  Mar6chal,  on  this  occasion,  was  named 
Appert,  and  has  since  made  quite  a  name  for 
himself.  Now  let  us  follow  with  the  Due  de 
Malakoff  the  progress  of  his  love  affair. 


1 68  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Before  Marriage} 

Chantilly,  August  13,  1858. 

I  hastened,  on  leaving  you,  to  go  to  Saint-Cloud  to 
make  my  visit  to  the  Prince  Imperial.  H.  M.  had  gone 
out  walking,  and  I  chatted  with  the  governess  and  Mme. 
Bizot  for  two  hours  while  I  was  waiting.  These  ladies 
wished  to  discuss  English  and  French  politics,  and  ended 
by  being  hopelessly  muddled.  I  tried  to  lead  them  in  the 
right  way ;  but  it  is  difficult  for  one  man  to  hold  his  own 
with  two  women  in  politics.  Finally,  the  young  Prince 
came  in.  I  found  him  well,  little  inclined  to  talk,  but  a 
very  kind  and  gentle  child.  From  there  I  went  to  see 
Waubert,  and  dined  with  his  family ;  and  did  not  go  to 

V until  this  morning.     I  brought  back  a  beautiful 

basket  of  flowers  and  fruit,  and  two  rings,  which  1  left  on 
my  way  home  to  dress.  I  returned  to  breakfast ;  the 
breakfast  I  spoke  of  took  place  to-day.  Sophie  was  beau- 
tiful and  kind,  though  somewhat  sad.  I  was  asked  to 
write  on  my  arrival  in  London ;  I  am  writing  from  Chan- 
tilly. The  Comtesse  had  said :  "  You  will  write  to  us."  I 
said  I  would ;  and  I  asked  myjiaticie  if  she  understood 
that  I  was  to  write  to  her  directly.  She  answered  in 
the  affirmative.  In  leaving  I  took  the  bracelet  which 
you  had  advised  me  to  return.  I  w-as  obliged  to  add  to 
it  the  case  which  I  marked  S.  P.  It  will  be  delivered 
to  the  Comtesse  to-morrow  with  my  card.  I  have  noti- 
fied these  ladies  of  this,  so  everything  looks  promis- 
ing. 

It  seems  that  the  Empress  has  spoken  well  of  m-e  to 
her  mother.     We  parted  on  very  friendly  terms.     Tliey 

^  The  letters  which  follow  are  all  addressed  to  Mnie.  X , 

that  friend  of  the  Empress  whom  the  Marechal  had  questioned 
in  the  cathedral. 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MARECHAL  OF  FRANCE.     1 69 

did  not  want  to  let  me  go.  It  was  time  for  the  train,  and 
I  excused  myself  without  being  in  the  least  rude.  One 
would  think  to  see  us  together,  notwithstanding  our  re- 
serve, that  we  had  loved  each  other  for  a  long  time.  This 
is  your  work,  and  for  my  part  I  am  very  grateful  to 
you. 

You  are  quite  right,  the  last  rose  was  white ;  it  is  very 
well  ])reserved.  I  verified  it  this  morning  by  lifting  a 
cloth  which  covers  the  elao-h-es.  .  .  . 


Albert  Gate  House,  August  15,  1858. 
DjiORNO  DE  Maria  Adena: 

Long  live  the  Emperor!  We  prayed  for  him  this 
morning.  We  will  drink  his  health  to-night  with  that  of 
the  Queen  of  Great  Britian.  We  will  think  of  the  Em- 
press, the  Prince  Imperial,  of  you  also,  with  thoughts 
of  whom  I  have  begun  the  day.  I  must  confess  I  did 
not  expect  a  meeting  so  soon.  Think  how  many  formali- 
ties must  be  attended  to  before  a  wedding?  As  I  have 
said,  when  the  Comtesse  de  Montijo  has  been  entirely 
endorsed,  I  will  go  ahead.  But  I  cannot  anticipate  the 
decision  of  her  father,  which  might  be  in  the  negative, 
then  what  a  blunder!  And  what  a  delay,  in  preven- 
ting the  daughter  from  using  the  rights  which  the  code 
allows  her  in  regard  to  matrimony.  Between  ourselves, 
our  dear  Empress  wants  to  go  ahead  like  a  steam  engine, 
and  you,  my  Egeria,  in  all  this  seem  to  urge  me  on  with- 
out reflection  to  do  things  the  consequences  of  which 
might  be  unforeseen.  I  would  not  like  to  share  the  fate  of 
the  credulous  dupe  of  the  fox ;  but  the  moral  is  a  good 
one  to  appropriate.  "  In  all  things  consider  the  end," and 
never  rush  into  them  foolishly.  Have  you  yourself  forgot- 
ten the  saying?  "  C/ii  va piano  va  sano,  d  chi  va  sano  va 
lontanoP   This  is  my  sincere  wish.    If  the  Empress  wishes, 


I70  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

for  convenience'  sake,  that  I  go  to  the  chapel  at  Biarritz,  I 
■will  go,  and  there 

'^  A'oits  contractons  tous  deux, 
Cette  union  c/ierie, 
Qui  seule  rend  heureux" 

as  the  saying  goes. 

Has  she  not  celebrity,  the  abode  of  trust? 

Without  trying  to  draw  a  parallel  —  the  sources  are 
analogous  —  the  place  in  my  judgment  would  be  well 
chosen.  A  little  far  away  for  one  of  the  witnesses ;  but 
it  will  enable  him  to  know  the  frontier  better,  Bayonne, 
and  the  St.  Esprit,  his  patron  saint.  I  suppose  you  sent 
my  dispatch,  word  for  word,  to  the  Empress. 

I  kiss  your  hand,  and  I  beg  you  to  do  all  you  can  to 
temper  an  ardour  which  in  any  one  but  the  Empress  would 
be  injudicious." 

Albert  Gate  House,  August  8,  1858. 

I  answer  your  letter  of  yesterday  at  once,  to  prove  to 
you  both  my  eagerness  and  my  docility. 

You  must  know,  that  I  desire  as  much  as  any  one 
that  events  be  hastened  with  judgment ;  but  as  say  the 
ancients,  to  everything  its  own  time,  its  own  pace.  To 
hasten  matters  does  no  good,  and  often  does  harm.  I 
was  certainly  overjoyed  that  the  Empress  should  fix  the 
happy  day  which  will  bring  such  a  great  and  such  a  de- 
lightful change  in  my  life ;  which  comes  to  give  me  rest, 
to  give  me  new  life,  new  conditions.  But  since  the  date 
for  leaving  Biarritz  is  too  near  for  arrangements  to  be 
properly  carried  out,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  be  re- 
signed, and  wait  patiently  until  our  a-rrival  at  Saint- 
Cloud.  This  I  will  willingly  do,  though  I  wish  the  time 
might  be  shorter.  I  waited  patiently  for  two  months  until 
our  captured  goods,  trophies,  stores,  and  our  army  were 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MARECHAL  OF  FRANCE.     171 

re-embarked  before  I  myself  started,  last  of  all,  for  the 
desired  goal  —  my  native  land.  Can  I  not  wait  for  six 
weeks  for  a  wreath  of  flowers  mixed  with  laurel  to  de- 
scend upon  my  head  like  a  benediction  ?  I  have  absolute 
confidence  in  the  good  sense  of  ray  fiancee,  and  I  hope 
she  will  understand  and  agree  with  me.  I  also  have  faith 
in  your  interest  m  us,  and  I  think  you  will  bring  each  of 
us  to  a  settled  decision  and  to  still  more  reasonable 
actions.  It  was  in  Africa  on  the  2d  of  October  that  I  was 
made  superior  officer.  It  is  twenty-eight  years  ago,  just 
about  the  age  of  my  future  wife ;  and  if  it  is  not  a  great 
anniversary,  it  will  at  least  be  a  day  made  happy  by  so 
much  joy. 

I  must  try  to  be  cheerful  during  this  time.  Nothing 
seems  easier  for  me,  and  I  hope  it  will  not  be  difficult  for 
you  to  carry  out.     You  will  invite  the  Comtesse  de  Mon- 

tijo  and  her  dear  ward  to  spend  a  few  days  at .     I 

will  arrange,  for  the  same  time,  a  visit  at  the  Baronne 
Barbier.  Sophie  and  I  would  not  be  under  the  same  roof; 
but  we  could  see  each  other  with  others  present,  occa- 
sionally; when  propriety  would  allow,  alone.  Circum- 
stances would  arrange  themselves,  time  would  pass,  and 
finally  we  should  go  to  Saint-Cloud  to  receive  that  benedic- 
tion which  is  the  object  of  our  wislies,  of  theirs,  and  of 
yours.  Tell  me  frankly  what  you  think.  We  will  liave 
charades,  and  do  the  many  things  appropriate  to  tlie 
country.  It  is  impossible  that  we  should  be  bored.  You 
see  how  self-possessed  I  am.  It  is  a  blessing  from  heaven 
to  see  calm  increase  according  to  the  necessity  for  it. 

You  did  right  to  send  the  dispatch  to  the  Empress.  I 
have  not  yet  received  the  letter  which  Her  Majesty  told 
you  she  wrote  me.  It  perhaps  went  astray  at  Saint-Cloud, 
and  I  may  receive  it  any  moment.  I  await  it  with  respect 
and  gratitude. 

I  hope  the  health  of  your  dear  child  is  better.     That 


172  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

child  requires  a  great  deal  of  care.  You  see  that  although 
I  am  not  the  father  of  a  family,  I  have  at  least  the  heart 
of  one. 

W  71  revoir,  beautiful  white  rose  ;  mi  fezwir,  my  guard- 
ian angel.  I  am  not  the  only  man  who  has  been  made 
humble  by  affection,  by  good  breeding,  and  perfect  man- 
ners. You  cannot  imagine  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you  take 
so  much  interest  in  the  consummation  of  my  happiness. 
I  kiss  your  hand,  and  I  only  ask  for  one  of  those  angelic 
smiles  which  come  involuntarily. 

Albert  Gate  House,  August  22,  1858. 

The  mail  came  very  late  this  morning,  and  it  was  only 
by  running  that  I  was  able  to  send  my  answer.  There 
has  been  a  deluge  of  rain,  there  must  have  been  a  storm 
at  sea,  and  the  weather  this  morning  is  treacherous. 

You  have  learned  by  telegram  that  I  had  received  the 
Empress's  letter.  I  had  already  answered  hers  when 
yours  came. 

I  hasten  to  tell  you  that  I  have  given  you  full  power, 
and  will  raise  my  note  to  the  amount  you  mention  as 
the  cost  of  the  corbeillc ;  so  that  there  will  be  about  eigh- 
teen thousand  more,  although  it  is  nearly  double  the  first 
figure,  which  was  not  to  exceed  twenty  thousand.  Do 
architects,  who  are  famous  for  making  additional  charges, 
go  so  far?  I  doubt  it.  Well,  I  will  have  a  good  wife, 
very  gentle  and  well  provided  for ;  nine  thousand  francs 
worth  of  laces,  a  cashmere  shawl  for  six  thousand,  a  dress 
for  six  hundred,  and  furs  for  three  thousand,  and  eighteen 
thousand  francs  worth  of  diamonds.  I  have  omitted  the 
twelve  hundred  for  fur  gloves,  parasols,  and  fans.  I  must 
add  to  this,  since  we  must  begin  by  passing  under  the 
Caudine  Forks  of  happiness,  a  travelling  bag,  which  is 
considered  very  important  here.     I  will  buy  it  at . 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MAR^CHAL  OF  FRANCE.    1 73 

Give  whatever  orders  you  wish  before  you  leave.  I  will 
trouble  you  not  less  surely  than  the  legislative  body  trou' 
bles  the  minister.  Since  it  is  the  woman's  share  to 
furnish  the  trousseau,  I  congratulate  her  on  the  kind 
intention  of  the  Empress.  I  hope  Her  Majesty  will  not 
entirely  throw  my  corbeille  in  the  shade.  It  is  quite 
enough  that  /  should  be,  and  I  am  yet  to  have  my 
first  debt.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  will  come  out  safe 
without  this  embarrassment.  You  acted  wisely  to  order 
the  jewels  from  across  the  Pyrenees  to  be  set  with  dia- 
monds, and  to  extend  this  order  to  the  others.  I  have 
given  but  few  jewels  in  my  life ;  but  since  my  return  from 
the  Crimea  my  jeweller  is  Sentier  et  Tugot,  Rue  de  la 
Paix.  I  shall  be  glad  if  you  can  give  them  some  work 
to  do. 

The  diamonds  are  to  be  in  two  "  r/7'/<^/'^j,"  unique  oc- 
casion! One  "/w/^ri?"  is  enough  to  drown  a  man.  Ah! 
but  we  must  have  a  duchess's  diadem.  The  Emperor 
owes  me  a  ducal  crown,  since  he  made  me  a  duke.  It 
would  be  very  kind  of  him  to  furnish  me  with  a  duchess's 
crown  also. 

I  have  nothing  more  to  say  unless  I  add  that  I  am 
happy,  and  that  I  will  be  everlastingly  grateful  to  you  for 
the  great  kindness  which  has  led  you  to  take  charge  of 
this  undertaking.  The  thoughtfulness  you  have  put  into 
all  these  small  matters  connected  with  the  ins  and  outs  of 
happiness  doubles  my  gratitude.  In  a  letter,  all  perfume, 
all  love,  muffled  in  furs,  draped  with  a  cashmere  shawl, 
under  the  rich,  undulating  folds  of  a  velvet  dress,  you  beg 
me  not  to  dismiss  your  friend  Roux.  If  I  promised  it,  you 
have  no  right  to  ask  it,  for  I  always  keep  my  promises.  I 
admit  for  an  instant  that  it  was  necessary.  You  remind  me 
[here  there  is  an  omission]  of  the  domino  who  thought 
she  was  asking  the  pardon  of  El  Apuntador.  I  have  never 
been  unkind  to  this  good  Roux ;  I  have  commanded,  and 


174  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

I  have  said  I  expected  to  be  obeyed  .  .  .  parble7i,  Mar^- 
chal  Vaillant  spoke  one  day  of  my  "rebellious  nature." 
I  am  quite  docile  to  any  one  who  has  the  right  to  command 
me.  But  when  I  command,  when  I  try  to  restore  order 
where  disorder  has  been  the  normal  condition  of  things, 
when  I  point  out  simple  precautions,  very  judicious  ar- 
rangements, and  some  one  comes  and  talks  to  me  of  the 
sympathy  inspired  by  the  housekeeper  of  Mme.  de  Brunow, 

or  the  tailor  of  M ,  that  it  is  indispensable  that  your 

pocketbook  be  opened  for  dogs,  I  think  the  situation  is 
revolting  and  ridiculous,  and  I  say  what  I  think  without 
reserve.  I  am  not  surprised  that  M.  Roux  is  not  under- 
stood, for  it  is  easy  to  scandalise,  and  I  have  always  taken 
him  for  a  Lafontaine  or  a  Bernardin  de  St.  Pierre  on  a 
small  scale,  carrying  order  and  economy  to  such  an 
extreme  that  he  portions  out  crumbs  to  the  sparrows, 
from  time  to  time,  from  his  breakfast.  But  I  believe 
when  he  knew  that  I  wanted  to  establish  sound  doctrines, 
to  give  the  chaacellor  a  dignity  which  nothing  on  earth 
would  make  him  forget,  he  went  to  work  on  the  lines 
indicated,  where  he  has  continued  and  will  continue 
always.  He  needed  nothing  more  to  win  my  good  will. 
He  has  it  entirely.     Is  this  using  him  harshly?    No  ! 

This  is  the  secret  of  any  good  acts  I  may  have  done 
in  my  life,  this  is  the  reason  of  my  splendid  career ;  and 
if  Socialism  tried  to  lift  its  head,  and  if  some  other  man, 
the  Emperor  having  disappeared,  tried  to  make  an  attack 
on  the  rights  of  the  Regent,  to  limit  or  to  modify  the 
rights  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  I  would  throw  myself  across 
his  path,  I  would  kill  the  factious  person,  whoever  he  was  ; 
and,  if  I  did  not  succeed,  I  would  allow  myself  to  be  killed 
under  the  belfry  rather  than  to  fly  as  others  have  done,  as 
I  never  have  and  never  will.  Only  well-tempered  souls 
attain  their  end.  They  have  outbursts  which  the  vulgar 
cannot  understand  at  first,  but  which  they  end  by  under- 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MAR^CHAL  OF  FRANCE.     175 

standing,  however,  and  by  approving,  for  they  are  but 
small  defects,  inseparable  from  these  fine  qualities,  which 
are  valuable  and  devoted  to  good,  notwithstanding.  Why 
do  you  not  honour  with  your  natural  solicitude  the  secre- 
taries and  attaches  who  had  to  be  disciplined  also,  that  is, 
most  of  them ;  the  bell  is  cast,  and  all  progresses  as  it 
should  in  such  a  community.  There  is  something  won- 
derful in  the  fact  that  he  who  commanded  120,000  men, 
heroes  of  all  kinds  I  admit,  but  heroes  notwithstanding, 
should  have  to  struggle  with  the  control  of  an  embassy 
of  five  or  six  gentlemen,  —  more  gentlemen  than  working- 
men, —  a  chancellor,  and  a  record-office.  This  could  not 
be ;  light  has  come  for  all,  and  everything  progresses 
without  impediment.  They  are  what  they  should  be. 
Doubtless  the  gentleness  of  Sophie,  her  kindness  min- 
gled with  simplicity,  will  soften  insensibly  this  waste ; 
but  in  waste  places  there  are  more  or  less  diamonds,  and 
no  one  has  a  right  to  depreciate  their  value.  The  com- 
parison does  not  show  humility,  I  confess,  but  even  if  we 
exaggerate  to  produce  an  effect  at  a  distance,  when  an 
honest  man,  a  good  chief,  one  of  the  best  in  the  service, 
is  attacked,  he  has  a  right  to  rise  in  his  defence.  But, 
resolute  as  Sicamber,  though  less  proud,  he  can  kneel 
before  gentleness,  before  beauty,  and  thank  it  for  the 
attack  made,  not  without  injustice,  although  it  had  its 
origin  in  a  good  intention ;  but  which,  in  compensation, 
gives  him  an  opportunity  to  make  a  sincere  confession  of 
faith.  Love  me  a  little,  tell  me  the  truth  always,  and  in 
the  end  you  will  see  that  I  deserve  it. 

I  understand  that  because  of  all  this  necessity  for 
travel  my  Champrosay  project  is  reduced  to  a  Utopian 
pastoral.  I  fall  back  on  my  philosophy  and  let  time  come 
to  my  rescue.  I  hope  day  after  to-morrow  to  be  able  to 
reach  Paris.  I  shall  remain  there  eight  days,  and  tiien 
return   to    London,  which  I  will   leave   again ;   then  vou 


1/6  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

will  all  come  back,  and  we  shall  be  united  by  your  good 
prayers  and  the  blessing  of  heaven. 

Paris,  August  27,  1858. 

You  must  know  how  much  I  regretted  not  seeing  you 
on  my  arrival  in  PaVis,  for  it  is  surely  you  whom  I  most 
wanted  to  see ;  you  whom  I  wished  to  thank  for  your 
kind  maternal  solicitude,  for  taking  an  interest  in  me,  in 
my  establishment,  in  my  lover's  pride,  and  giving  me  the 
care  of  the  best  of  mothers.  If  my  stay  in  Paris  were 
not  so  short,  and  if  1  did  not  have  a  kind  vampire  who 
keeps  watch  over  my  hours,  who  considers  as  stolen 
those  which  are  not  spent  with  her  or  for  her,  I  would 
go  to  Vichy  to  kiss  your  hand.  Well !  you  will  return 
both  from  Vichy  and  from  Biarritz,  and  what  you  have 
begun  so  affectionately,  so  graciously,  God  will  look  upon 
as  the  work  of  an  angel ;  and  this  angel  having  become 
my  good  angel,  God  will  finish  the  work. 

Coming  down  to  more  commonplace  things,  I  sup- 
pose you  have  taken  every  step  necessary  to  finisli  the 
corbeille.  By  the  advice  of  Lady  Cowley,  to  whom  I 
confided  your  eagerness,  I  will  add  to  your  list,  which  I 
approved  in  every  particular  in  my  preceding  letter,  a  trav- 
elling bag  which  I  ordered  in  London.  I  must  also  pro- 
vide a  prayer-book.  I  must  tliink  of  this,  I  whose  rustic 
and  wild  ways  have  had  so  many  victims,  who,  fortunately 
for  her,  are  all  doing  well.  I  take  advantage  of  this 
opportunity  to  tell  you,  my  charming  accuser,  famous  for 
your  thoughtlessness,  that  far  from  blaming  you  for 
speaking  to  me  in  regard  to  the  placid  chancellor,  I  am 
very  grateful  to  you  for  giving  me  an  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing myself  better  known  to  you.  This,  I  hope,  will  be 
the  last  protocol  against  my  rebellious  nature  and  my 
imaginary  victims.  However  this  may  be,  I  am  not  a 
lion,  but  if  I  were  one,  for  you  I  would  muffle  my  claws 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MARECHAL  OF  FRANCE.     177 

and  would  sleep  peacefully  at  your  feet.  Do  not  be 
anxious  about  ray  promise.  Like  you,  she  is  kind  and 
gentle  ;  like  you,  she  is  beautiful.  Heaven  will,  doubtless, 
give  her  beautiful  children  like  yours.  Why  should  I  not 
lie  at  her  feet  with  equal  tranquillity  of  mind.  I  have 
always  been  a  lion  to  my  enemies  or  to  the  rebellious, 
but  kind  to  the  laborious,  the  dutiful,  the  docile,  and  the 
well-disciplined.  This  then  is  well  understood.  And 
now  let  us  speak  of  her,  of  myself,  of  everything  a  little. 
At  five  o'clock  on  the  25th  I  was  at  the  station.  M. 
Barbier  and  her  father  were  also  there,  and  Julien  arrived 
like  the  refreshing  dew.  At  eleven  I  was  at  table  in  the 
neighbourhood,  which  I  did  not  leave  until  two  o'clock  to 
go  to  Saint-Cloud.  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  see  you  the  next 
day,  and  was  on  my  way  thither  when  I  received  your 
letter,  which  stopped  me  short.  I  had  seen  the  Empress. 
Her  mother  and  her  ward,  who  were  dining  at  a  bankers, 
were  counting  on  me  for  the  opera.  The  Empress  thought 
this  would  be  shocking  and  I  stayed  away.  From  Saint- 
Cloud  1  went  to  Chaville  to  see  the  family  de  Bar  and  Wau- 
bert  de  Genlis,  and  at  Viroflay  to  see  the  family  Appert; 
the  evening  I  spent  at  home,  assorting  and  classifying  my 
papers.  I  arose  early  to  write,  breakfasted  with  the  Em- 
press, the  Emperor  having  gone  to  hunt  at  St.  Germain 
with  Lord  Palmerston.  I  did  not  see  the  ladies  before 
breakfast,  but  they  were  expected  at  Saint-Cloud  where 
I  remained  until  four  o'clock.  I  left  to  dress  for  dinner  at 
St.  Gratien,  whence  I  returned  at  midnight.  To-day  I 
breakfast  with  a  friend,  the  former  head  of  the  depart- 
ment of  public  instruction  in  the  days  of  citizen  Vaula- 
belle.  I  will  call  to  see  my  neighbours,  then  I  will  go  to 
Champrosay  to  meet  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  in 
charge  of  the  ministry  of  Algiers.  Hereafter  I  will 
dine  there  every  day.  Such  is  my  life ;  one  thing  is 
wanting  —  an  hour  spent  at  Vichy,  a  good  talk,  and  after 


178  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

that  I  will  return  with  joy  to  the  black  tablet  of  which  I 
will  speak  this  morning.  My  notary  will  go  to  whoever 
the  comtesse  advises.  What  notaries  arrange  are  money 
matters  and  the  consequences  of  death.  I  have  seen  them 
in  ^^  Les  Fmtx  Bonshommes.''''  What  women  arrange  are 
roses  and  the  finery  of  the  future.  However  this  may  be, 
I  await  my  orders  from  you. 

Write  to  me  from  Vichy.  Atix  Eaitx,  it  must  be  a 
good  fortune  to  be  obliged  to  write.  Throw  me  some 
crumbs  of  this  good  fortune.  They  would  be  for  me  what 
manna  was  to  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  desert.  I 
write  you  between  the  lines  of  a  gentleman  who  seeks 
my  custom. 1  God  grant,  for  his  sake,  that  you  have  given 
him  yours. 

Albert  Gate  House,  September  i[,  1S58. 

I  have  received  your  two  letters  and  I  thank  you  for 
them.  I  have  been  to  Champrosay  twice.  The  first  time 
to  meet  the  minister  of  Algeria,  the  second  with  the  com- 
tesse and  my  betrothed.  She  had  a  great  success.  I  also 
was  successful  before  the  Prince  in  the  charade  — 

Mir-lit-071. 

All  the  travelling  bags  and  other  bags  make  me  want 
to  go  to  the  devil !  I  am  wailing  for  your  return  to  decide. 
You  will  see  by  the  bill  that  M.  Audot  has  very  variable 
prices. 

I  do  not  understand  your  hesitation  in  regard  to  Biar- 
ritz. I  am  more  of  a  traveller  than  you  imagine.  I  do 
not  yet  know  what  day  the  sovereign  will  fix  for  the  mar- 
riage. There  is  a  Friday  which  is  in  the  way  and  which 
the  majority  do  not  favour. 

I  have  given  my  betrothed  a  watch   which  was  con- 

1  This  letter,  in  fact,  is  written  between  the  lines  of  a  request  con- 
taining an  offer  of  services,  on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  the 
Mar6chal,  and  signed  by  a  M.  Cayal,  manufacturer  of  umbrellas. 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MARECHAL  OF  FRANCE.       1 79 

sidered  to  be  in  good  taste,  and  some  pure  white  ostrich 
feathers. 

I  add  to  this  a  menthe  poivrle  and  a  scabious  of  the 
Chateau  d'Arques  which  I  had  not  seen  for  forty-two 
years,  and  which  I  visited  yesterday  morning  by  some 
odd  fancy. 

Absinthe  is  my  favourite  drink. 

Albert  Gate  House,  September  27,  1858. 

More  to  me  than  an  Egeria  you  have  forsaken  some- 
what him  who  is  not  over-proud  of  being  a  Pompilius; 
but,  though  you  deserted  him,  you  have  come  back  again, 
and  he  covers  you  with  benedictions.  Tuesday,  the  1 2th, 
suits  me  perfectly,  and  I  thank  my  sovereign.  Now  I  have 
told  the  ministers  that  I  will  leave  England  the  night  of 
the  1st  or  2d  of  October.  But  I  say  to  you  and  to  my 
friend,  who  will  forgive  me  this  little  deceit  for  the  sake 
of  such  a  short  fifteen  days,  that  I  will  be  in  Paris,  sub- 
ject to  your  orders,  on  September  29th,  the  day  of  tiie 
patron  of  the  Russians,  but  a  powerless  patron  saint 
nine  years  ago.  This  memory,  recalled  by  our  friend 
to  the  minister,  will  doubtless  cause  him  to  be  obli- 
ging. 

Mme.  de  Montebello  is  as  capricious  as  she  is  kind 
and  beautiful,  and  did  not  consider  seriously  that,  in  fact, 
I  was  not  entirely  fulfilling  my  promise.  To  punish  her  I 
will  avoid  her  kind  and  intelligent  eyes  on  the  12th  of 
October.  As  to  you,  I  will  do  my  best  to  see  you,  who 
are  only  guilty  of  a  little  forgetful ness,  for  which  you  so 
graciously  have  made  amends. 

It  is  decided  that  I  will  breakfast  at  the  Hotel  d'Albe. 
Let  me  know  there,  please,  or  at  No.  115.  the  hour  at 
which,  gracious  Comtesse  with  the  beautiful  iiair  and  !)ril- 
liant  eyes,  you  will  be  visible.  I  will  find  you  more  dex- 
terously than  B. or  the  illustrious  Leverrier." 


l80  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

October  7,  1858. 

We  are  playing  at  pantomime.  We  see  each  other 
without  speaking,  and  each  more  in  haste  than  the  other. 
You  disappear.  The  price  of  the  corbeille  alone  seems 
to  remain  fixed  and  unmoved ;  but  money  troubles  do 
not  kill,  it  is  said,  and  I  love  my  Jiancee  too  much  to  allow 
a  continually  growing  debt  to  disturb  me.  You  know 
my  feelings  of  gratitude ;  could  I  find  fault  with  you  ? 

It  is  decided  that  the  contract  will  be  signed  dans 
Vesbrouff  as  at  first  decided  on. 

Monday  the  iith  at  nine  o'clock  ;  at  the  Hotel  d'Albe  ; 
the  witnesses  and  a  few  friends  present. 

Tuesday,  the  12th,  at  five  o'clock,  civil  marriage,  Rue 
d'Anjou  St.  Honors.  In  the  evening  a  party  at  Saint- 
Cloud.  Then  nuptial  benediction,  when  I  will  bless  high 
heaven  and  its  angels,  amongst  whom  I  rank  you. 

Paris,  October  11,  1S58. 

A  thousand  thanks  for  the  beautiful  pencil  holder. 
From  what  I  hear  this  morning  I  think  we  will  be  most 
fortunate  if  we  have  the  corbeille  to-night  at  the  Hotel 
d'Albe.     Let  us  act  accordingly. 

After  the  Wedding. 

Paris,  October  13,  1858. 

After  a  happy  evening  comes  the  quarter  of  an  hour 
of  Rabelais ;  it  is  often  so  in  the  affairs  of  this  world. 
You  had  full  power  and  I  give  you  a  bill  of  indemnity ;  we 
cannot  do  right  if  we  do  not  follow  the  proprieties  —  like 
all  ministers,  you  have  been  obliged  to  turn  to  supplemen- 
tary credit.  It  would  be  very  ungracious  to  find  fault 
with  you,  as  I  have  already  said.  I  love  you  too  sincerely 
to  do  such  a  thing.     It  would  even  be  ungracious  in  the 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MAR^CHAL   OF  FRANCE.     l8l 

Mar^chale,  who  deserves  all  you  have  done  for  her.  Ap- 
pert  is  going  to  profit  by  your  economical  suggestions 
and  pay  the  merchants  at  once  ;  there  is  one  thing  that 
cannot  be  repaid,  that  is  friendship,  devotion,  such  per- 
fect and  gracious  kindness  as  you  have  shown  to  me 
and  to  the  charming  companion,  whom  God  has  given 
me  for  my  remaining  days,  a  kindness  so  great  that  you 
will  have  our  eternal  gratitude. 

Your  faithful  friend, 

JVJAL  Pelissier. 
Cordially  approved  by 

J^JALE  £,E  Malakoff. 

Albert  Gate  House,  October  20,  1858. 

Your  work  so  well  begun,  completes  itself,  and,  Deo 
volente,  will  reach  perfection.  We  had  a  delightful,  gay, 
and  interesting  voyage. 

At  three  o'clock  we  were  at  Blakwal,  where  we  were 
sympathetically  received.  Our  carriages  were  brought  to 
us  as  quickly  as  possible,  where  our  commonplace  sur- 
roundings absorbed  us  the  rest  of  that  day  and  the  next. 
We  walked  about,  billed  and  cooed,  and  voila  ! 

Already  more  than  a  quarter  [here  an  illegible  word] 
passed  with  that  joy  which  one  would  expect  to  find  only 
in  Mont  Hyinette,  and  with  which  we  are  both  radiant. 
The  Comte  has  disappeared,  and  it  is  Sophia  who  capti- 
vates the  attention  of  the  astronomers,  and  even  of  those 
who  are  not.  .  .  . 

Albert  Gate  House.  November  3  1S5S. 
(^Evening^ 

As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  if  I  had  myself  taken  the 
Mar^chale  from  the  side  of  our  first  father,  I  could  not 
have  improved  her.  "  That  companion  of  man  who  is 
the  ornament  of  our  existence,  who  elevates  and  blesses 


1 82  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

us,"  could  not  be  more  to  my  taste,  and  I  find  her  all  that 
I  require  to  make  me  happy.  If  she  does  not  mutiny, 
she  will  be  a  perfect  wife,  and  this  will  be  the  case,  for 
she  shows  a  gentleness,  a  goodness,  an  amiable  intelli- 
gence, and  a  saintly  admiration  for  her  husband. 

Have  a  good  time  at  Compi^gne.  I  wish  I  could  be 
there  to  dine  with  you,  but  I  am  not  there  !  I  have  been 
so  much  in  Paris  lately  that  I  have  no  great  desire  to 
return  there  soon. 

Here  the  correspondence  of  the  Mar^chal 
Pelissier  concerning  his  marriage  stops.  It  is 
interesting,  and  throws  a  Hght  on  the  character 
of  the  man,  about  whom  there  seem  to  be  many- 
traditions. 

It  is  curious,  too,  in  that  it  shows  the  inces- 
sant preoccupation  of  the  Due  de  Malakoff  on 
the  subject  of  money,  and  a  morbid  mind  might 
discover  a  fugitive  doubt  running  through  the 
correspondence,  whether  the  union  might  not 
prove  to  be  expensive,  and  lead  him  into  debt. 

There  is  an  occasional  sadness,  too,  in  these 
letters. 

It  is  only  the  letter  written  after  his  marriage 
which  is  free  from  anxiety  and  the  haunting 
remembrance  of  bills  unpaid. 

A  curious  and  very  characteristic  coincidence, 
too,  is  that  this  young  woman  has  scarcely  left 
the  chapel  when  she  is  told  of  the  anxieties  of 
her  husband,  and  writes  her  thanks,  placing  her 


ROMANCE  OF  A  MARECHAL  OF  FRANCE.     1 83 

signature  on  that  very  paper,  which,  far  from 
containing  a  poem  of  joy,  is  but  a  summary  of 
bills,  and  states  once  again  the  trouble  that  it 
gives  the  old  soldier  to  pay  for  a  corbeille,  which 
alone,  in  this  whole  adventure,  to  use  his  own 
expression,  was  perfectly  satisfactory. 

In  conclusion,  did  the  Marechal  Pelissier  go 
to  his  wedding  with  the  youthful  enthusiasm 
accredited  to  him  by  certain  biographers  ?  It 
is  doubtful  !  And,  in  reading  his  romance,  does 
it  not  appear  that  the  spontaneity,  the  sweet 
oblivion  and  rapture  of  the  all-absorbing  passion 
which  the  humble  lover  experiences,  has  its 
value  ? 


VII. 

THE    EMPRESS    AND    FOREIGN    AFFAIRS. 

From  the  time  of  the  Empire  dates  that  in- 
vasion of  strangers,  real  or  imaginary  million- 
aires, which  has  since  then  taken  possession  of 
Paris. 

Their  character  at  that  time  was  much  the 
same  as  it  is  now. 

Luxuriously  established,  generally  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Arc  de  Triomphe,  they  throw 
over  Paris,  as  from  a  balcony  to  a  crowd  below, 
.  ,  .  their  rastaqtwuhe  money,  and  sometimes 
money  honestly  earned.  They  encamp  amongst 
us  like  travellers  on  the  alert. 

In  fact,  if,  at  Paris,  foreigners  easily  triumph, 
they  fall  with  equal  case,  in  spite  of  the  jingle 
of  their  gold,  which  often  becomes  a  stumbling- 
block. 

Paris,  indulgent  to  the  rich,  even  to  those  who 
have  come  by  crooked  ways  from  the  country 
of  ranches,  bows  in  salutation,  without  any  stiff- 
ness in  the  knees,  to  each  new-comer. 

She  accepts  his  invitations,  appears  at  his  func- 
184 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      1 85 

tions,  drinks  his  wine,  devours  his  food,  borrows 

his  money,  is  carried  away  as  irrationally  as  a 
girl.  Then  a  very  natural  thing  happens.  The 
lights  extinguished,  the  violins  silent,  digestion 
finished,  Paris,  a  little  surprised  at  her  own  in- 
fatuation, seeks  for  information.  And,  all  of  a 
sudden,  at  a  single  word  of  slander,  for  a  doubt- 
ful and  futile  reason,  she  frowns  on  him  to  whom 
the  night  before  she  did  reverence.  Paris,  in 
imitation  of  M.  Choufleury,  stays  at  home ;  and, 
alas !  for  the  foreigner  who  would  venture  to 
approach  her.  The  reception  was  exaggerated, 
as  the  condemnation  is,  in  the  extreme.  But  so 
it  is.  Nothing  could  efface  the  sentence  of  its 
world.  The  unfortunate  foreigner  is  isolated, 
and  becomes  an  outcast.  Occasionally  the  con- 
demned one  resents  the  insult.  He  fights 
against  the  edict  of  society.  But  the  fight  is 
short-lived ;  the  strongest  grow  tired  of  this 
cruel  game.  The  victim,  exhausted,  resolves  to 
flee  the  big  city  and  its  scorn.  But  he  comes 
back  again,  bitterness  in  his  heart.  If  he  is 
enthusiastic  or  honest,  a  smile  is  on  his  lips  ;  if 
he  is  sceptical  or  vicious,  muttering  the  nursery 
rhyme,  — 

"  A'ojis  fi^ irons  plus  an  bois, 
Les  laiiriers  sont  coiipis.  ..." 

However,  the  world  is  not  so  cruel  to  every 


1 86  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

one.  There  are  some  amongst  the  foreigners 
who  find  favour.  Society,  in  its  hatred  as  in  its 
affections,  is  impenetrable.  Almost  every  year 
meteors  cross  the  Parisian  sky,  shining  with  all 
the  colours  of  the  rainbow,  coming  from  we 
know  not  where,  going  we  know  not  whither. 
Every  year  society  takes  its  spy-glass  and 
watches  the  evolution  of  the  new  star.  These 
meteors  have  human  forms,  sometimes  fallen 
princes  fleeing  from  the  anger  of  their  people 
or  of  their  relatives  ;  nabobs  born,  some  of  them, 
in  the  jungles  of  Africa  ;  slave  dealers  who  have 
retired  from  business ;  tradesmen  having  made 
a  fortune  in  hams  or  sewing-machines ;  even 
scoundrels.  The  scoundrel,  the  dealer  in  sew- 
ing-machines or  slaves,  the  nabob,  will  see  doors 
open  to  them  which  are  closed  to  the  prince 
and  the  brave  retailer  of  hams.  Where  shall  we 
find  the  reason  for  this  ?  Society  could  not 
itself  analyse  the  motive  which  controls  it. 

Two  women  especially,  Mmes.  de  Metternich 
and  Castiglione,  of  whom  I  will  speak  further 
on,  helped  the  Empress  to  encourage  foreigners 
to  come  to  Paris  under  the  Empire.  To-day 
they  have  no  leaders  of  such  high  rank. 

Like  everything  else,  Parisian  society  has 
been  influenced  by  the  bourgeoisie,  and  I  doubt 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      1 8/ 

if  there  is  one  real  prince  in  its  ranks.  How- 
ever, even  in  their  fall,  in  their  dethronement, 
the  foreigners  remain  the  rulers  of  Paris.  It  is 
with  great  facility  that  strangers  introduce  them- 
selves among  us  ;  and  they  profit  by  it. 

Foreigners  who  are  received  in  society  are 
numerous  in  Paris.  The  hospitality  is  great 
which  reaches  from  the  real  prince  to  a  prince  of 
Bohemia  dreaming  in  his  furnished  room  ;  even 
to  the  beau,  with  or  without  a  title,  in  search  of 
an  adventure  which  will  be  to  his  advantage. 

The  world  refuses  its  recognition  to  some  ;  but 
it  rushes  eagerly  to  receive  certain  Italianised 
duchesses  of  recent  date. 

The  duchess  is  very  austere  on  the  question 
of  precedence  ;  she  reigns  in  the  midst  of  her 
sa/on,  and  about  her  are  chairs  of  different  styles 
and  dimensions,  of  different  degrees  of  luxuri- 
ousness.  P'or  a  baroness,  a  stool ;  for  a  countess, 
a  chair ;  for  a  marchioness,  an  armchair.  The 
duchess,  like  a  monarch,  crowns  the  seats  of 
her  guests,  as  formerly  the  king  crowned  the 
heads  of  his  friends. 

However,  the  proud  beauties  of  both  banks  of 
the  Seine  think  this  arrangement  of  the  duchess 
very  clever,  very  amusing,  and  they  bow  to  her 
authority  quite  humbly.  It  was  this  same  ple- 
beian duchess  of  low  birth  who,  on  receiving  the 


188  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

news  of  his  promotion,  telegraphed  her  good  hus- 
band, who  was  absent  at  the  time,  "  Sir,  you  are 
a  duke ;"  and  who  received  immediately  the  fol- 
lowing answer,  which  contains  a  lesson  of  wis- 
dom and  good  sense,  "  Madame,  you  are  crazy." 
This  exoticism  —  behold  a  paradox !  —  is  essen- 
tially Parisian,  Paris  is  the  atmosphere  in 
which  it  thrives.  To  attempt  to  uproot  it  would 
be  to  uselessly  imitate  Don  Quixote.  Foreign- 
ers have  a  way  of  taking  possession  of  Paris, 
which  remains  their  secret  and  their  power. 

Their  wives  are  superb,  well-poised,  with  mo- 
bile and  red  lips  ;  their  daughters  have  bold 
eyes  and  undulating  attitudes ;  their  men  have 
sunburned  faces  which  suggest  romantic  adven- 
tures in  the  past,  they  are  also  well  built  and 
strong.  What  more  could  Paris  want  for  its 
amusement,  or  to  inspire  its  imagination  .-* 
These  foreigners,  with  the  assurance  of  ribalds 
sacking  a  city,  assume  a  lofty  tone  towards  the 
great  town,  which  does  not  prevent  it  from 
opening  its  arms  to  them  —  and  more,  as  sub- 
missively as  a  girl  to  the  country  lad  who  uses 
her  harshly. 

Paris,  losing  patience,  sometimes  rebels.  But 
these  revolts  do  not  last.  But  momentary,  they 
are  soon  followed  by  renewed  civilities.  Let  a 
Brazilian,  an   Armenian,  a  Turk,  new  and   un- 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      1 89 

known  meteors,  appear  upon  the  scene,  and 
Paris,  regretting  the  severity  shown  to  those 
whom  it  scorned,  will  ask  for  sandwiches  and 
champagne  from  the  new-comers  ;  and  herein 
lies  the  secret  of  this  moral  question. 

The  ill-nature  of  the  world,  a  natural  instinct 
also,  threw  the  Empress  Eugenie  into  this  cos- 
mopolitan society,  which  asked  for  nothing  bet- 
ter at  this  time  than  official  recognition  ;  and  the 
salons  of  the  Tuileries  were  filled  by  a  crowd 
who  felt  all  the  more  at  home  in  them,  in 
that  their  origin  was  not  considered,  and  that 
they  were  seldom  called  to  account  for  their 
morality. 

This  foreign  element  was,  as  far  as  the  Em- 
press was  concerned,  the  result  of  the  scorn  of 
the  royalists  ;  and  it  would  appear  that  she  only 
gathered  about  her  these  light  men  and  women, 
who  transformed  her  house  into  a  sort  of  Babel, 
to  help  her  to  forget  the  slight,  or  better  to  re- 
venge herself. 

At  first  she  was  surrounded  by  a  set  of 
women  with  bold  glances  and  bolder  lips,  a  set 
of  women  with  masculine  ways,  eccentric  tastes, 
feverish  desires,  a  seductive  and  compromising 
laugh ;  who  were  like  a  mixed  assemblage  of 
strange  sultanas,  whose  nationality,  whose  dif- 
ference of  birth,  disappeared  before  a  common 


190  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

end,  that  of  pleasure.  These  women  have  been 
given  a  title  by  chroniclers,  cocodettes ;  in  his- 
tory they  have  a  name,  that  of  Women  of  the 
Empire,  and  I  beg  to  call  attention  here  to  a 
page  which  I  devoted  to  them  several  years  ago. 

The  Women  of  the  Empire,  I  said,  have  left 
a  reputation  of  their  own.  They  remain  as  the 
absolute  embodiment  of  a  period  devoted  to 
voluptuous  longing  for  sensual  pleasure,  to  the 
feverishness  of  intense  desires.  In  the  unset- 
tled morals  of  this  period,  men  were  but  dumb 
and  unconscious  actors.  The  women  had  the 
largest  share  of  responsibility.  Their  sensual- 
ity, the  sighs  of  passion  with  which  their 
bosoms  heaved,  charmed  the  men.  They  loved 
easily  and  madly  then. 

Amongst  these  women,  two  foreigners  espe- 
cially attracted  attention  and  preoccupied  the 
Empress  each  in  her  own  way  —  Mmes.  de 
Metternich  and  de  Castiglione. 

As  to  the  others,  less  adventurous  by  nature, 
they  made  but  a  momentary  and  superficial 
impression  on  the  mind  of  the  sovereign. 

Mme,  de  Metternich  was  apparently  the 
friend  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  Mme.  de  Cas- 
tiglione was  openly  hostile  to  her.  She  even 
tried  to  rival  her,  and  at  one  time  successfully ; 
from   these   relations    resulted   on    one  side  a 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      191 

friendship  which  continues  to  exist,  on  the 
other  a  hatred  which  can  only  be  destroyed  by 
death. 

These  two  women  both  had  real  titles,  not 
only  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  sovereign, 
but  from  that  of  the  public  also. 

The  Princess  de  Metternich  was  homely, 
witty,  original,  and  of  a  bluntness  bordering  on 
insolence,  and  yet  she  never  ceased  to  be  the 
grande  dame  that  she  was  by  birth. 

Very  dignified  with  the  Empress,  she  was 
also  the  most  distinguished  in  her  ways  of  all 
the  women  of  the  court.  Worldly  in  the  ex- 
treme, fond  of  literature  and  art,  and  especially 
of  music,  her  salon  was  open  almost  every  night 
to  numerous  friends  —  politicians  for  the  most 
part,  whom  she  used  to  keep  up  with  the  Tuil- 
eries  a  constant  intimacy,  and  to  have  over  the 
decisions  of  the  Empress  an  influence  which 
was  undeniable. 

Mme.  de  Metternich,  I  have  said  in  a  former 
chapter,*  seemed  to  have  undertaken  to  bring 
into  discredit  with  public  opinion  the  customs 
of  the  Imperial  court,  by  the  eccentricity,  by 
the  folly,  by  the  equivocal  and  suspicious  ways 
which  she  introduced  as  the  fashion  at  the 
Tuileries.  Her  influence,  in  fact,  did  not  have 
a  happy  effect  upon  the  fate  of  the  enterprises 


192  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

of  Napoleon  III.  and  his  wife ;  and  if  this  were 
the  proper  place  to  examine  the  sincerity  of  the 
sentiments  which  the  Prince  de  Metternich  and 
the  ambassadress  professed  for  the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress,  we  would  be  disposed  to  ask 
whether  these  two  people  from  the  time  of  their 
arrival  in  France  did  not  play  a  comedy,  the 
comedy  of  friendship,  in  order  to  bring  about 
the  fall  of  this  man,  whom  at  heart  they  could 
not  have  loved.  I  do  not  wish  to  pass  a  rash 
judgment  on  them,  and  will  merely  affirm  that 
the  ultra-liberal  attitude  of  the  Princess  de 
Metternich,  approved  of  and  imitated  by  the 
women  of  the  court,  was  the  cause  of  the  first 
revulsion  of  feeling  against  the  Empire. 

The  Princess  de  Metternich,  irreproachable 
as  a  wife  —  strange  contrast  —  was  the  cause 
of  trouble  and  impropriety  at  the  Court  of  the 
Tuileries.  Imposing  her  whims  on  the  Em- 
press, who  only  saw  with  her  eyes  or  heard 
with  her  ears,  she  made  of  this  court,  which 
should  have  answered  the  raillery  of  foreign 
courts  by  its  absolute  decorum,  a  playground 
for  children. 

Her  adventure  with  Theresa,  the  popular 
singer  and  the  suburban  genius,  is  well  known. 
She  had  her  brought  to  the  Tuileries,  and,  after 
having  taken  lessons  from  her,  imitated  her  in 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      193 

the  most  man^ellous  way,  to  the  great  agitation 
of  those  who  were  distressed  at  her  folly. 

Mme.  de  Metternich,  whose  audacity  was  be- 
yond words,  even  succeeded  in  having  the  cele- 
brated singer  received  in  the  old  quarter  and 
on  the  occasion  of  a  ball  at  the  Duchesse  de 
Galliera's  she  had  her  presented  to  the  en- 
tire nobility  of  France,  who  were  most  indig- 
nant. 

A  young  girl,  Mile,  de   L ,  taught  the 

ambassadress  a  lesson.  As  Theresa  was  about 
to  sing,  she  rose,  and,  going  straight  to  the  Due 
d'H ,  a  very  clever  man,  said  to  him  :  — 

"  Do  you  think,  Monsieur  le  Due,  that  the 
time  has  come  when  a  young  girl  should  with- 
draw ? " 

The  nobleman  smiled,  and  pointing  to  the 
nuncio,  Mgr.  Chigi,  who  was  present  on  this 
occasion  and  was  not  disposed  to  flee  from 
Theresa,  answered,  — 

"  Why  should  you  leave.  Mademoiselle } 
Where  the  nuncio  is,  I  suppose  there  can  be  no 
danger  for  a  young  girl." 

As  to  Mme.  de  Metternich,  when  this  inci- 
dent was  told  her,  she  merely  shrugged  her 
shoulders. 

"  Ah  !  the  old  wigs  even  on  young  heads," 
she  exclaimed,  "  I  have  put  them  out  of  curl." 


194  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

She  had  this  readiness  of  speech  which  caused 
her  to  be  both  feared  and  sought  after. 

In  this  she  was  Hke  her  mother-in-law  —  the 
wife  of  the  Prince  of  Metternich,  famous  in 
the  Congress  of  Vienna,  one  of  whose  replies 
nearly  caused  a  rupture  between  France  and 
Austria. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  King  Louis  Philippe, 
M.  le  Comtc  de  St.  Aulaire  being  ambassador  to 
Vienna.  On  the  occasion  of  a  ball  at  court, 
the  comte  having  approached  the  princess,  and 
having  paid  her  a  compliment  on  the  crown 
which  she  wore,  received  the  following  answer 
—  which  in  order  to  understand,  one  must  know 
that  its  author  hated  the  King  of  France,  con- 
sidering him  as  a  usurper  of  the  throne. 

"  Yes,  indeed.  Monsieur  I'Ambassadeur,"  she 
said,  looking  the  Comte  de  St.  Aulaire  straight 
in  the  face,  "  my  crown  is  very  beautiful ;  I 
assure  you  that  it  belongs  to  me,  and  that  I  did 
not  steal  it." 

Then,  turning  her  back  on  the  diplomat,  she 
left  him. 

On  recovering  from  his  amazement  he  left 
the  ball  abruptly,  and  notified  the  Parisian  cabi- 
net of  the  fact.  Alas  !  wit  makes  cruel  mis- 
takes ;  the  Princess  de  Metternich  was  obliged, 
by  command,  a  few  days  after  her  outburst,  to 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      195 

go  to  the  embassy  of  France  and  to  offer  in 
person  an  apology  to  our  representative. 

Mme.  de  Metternich,  she  in  whom  we  are 
interested,  also  encountered  a  disagreeable  ex- 
perience during  an  evening  party  at  the  house 

of  the  Archduke  V ,  where  the  Emperor  and 

the  Empress  of  Austria  were  present.  Having 
presented  herself  very  late,  on  being  affection- 
ately reproached  with  her  tardy  arrival  by  the 
Archduke,  who  told  her  that  the  sovereign  had 
arrived  some  time  before,  and  had  asked  for  her 
several  times,  Mme.  de  Metternich  drew  herself 
up  and  answered,  — 

"  Indeed,  has  the  Empress  been  concerned 
about  me  .-•  For  all  she  has  to  say  to  me,  I 
should  think  there  was  no  necessity  for  me  to 
hurry,"  —  alluding  to  the  rather  silly  talk  of  the 
Empress.  This  remark,  on  being  repeated, 
made  Mme.  de  Metternich  unpopular  for  some 
time.  At  the  Tuileries  her  malicious  spirit 
gave  itself  full  play,  and  the  victims  of  her  ill- 
natured  remarks  were  numerous. 

She  took  no  more  notice  of  them  than  she 
did  of  the  complaints  made  by  the  public  in  the 
press,  in  the  counsels  of  the  Emperor  even,  of 
her  independence,  her  peculiarities,  and  her 
audacity  of  speech  and  of  gesture. 

She  treated  these  tales  with   scorn,   and  in 


196  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

order  the  better  to  show  her  defiance  of  public 
opinion,  one  evening  in  a  charade  she  took  the 
part  of  a  coachman,  costume  and  all.  There 
were  some  women  who,  having  the  beauty  which 
she  lacked,  in  order  to  keep  up  with  the  fashion 
she  set,  were  most  immodestly  dressed. 

These  incongruities,  these  manifestations  of 
the  decadence  of  society,  pleased  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  who  encouraged  and  authorised  them 
with  the  thoughtlessness  of  a  pretty  woman 
intoxicated  by  an  unexpected  happiness,  by  an 
unlooked  for  kingdom. 

Mme.  de  Metternich  —  the  fact  is  admitted  — 
took  advantage  of  the  intimacy  which  her  origi- 
nality, perhaps  natural,  perhaps  studied  and 
calculated,  gave  birth  to  between  herself  and 
the  Empress,  to  become  a  skilful  collaborator 
with  her  husband  in  his  political  schemes. 

By  means  of  this  friendship  she  evidently 
drew  valuable  confidences  from  the  Empress, 
who  considered  her  a  devoted  friend,  and  thus 
we  may  explain  why  the  Emperor  and  his  min- 
isters were  so  often  defeated  by  foreign  diplo- 
mats. As  I  have  already  stated,  the  ICmperor 
often  expressed  his  dissatisfaction  and  his  fears 
to  the  Empress  on  her  intimacy  with  those 
foreigners  whom  she  took  into  her  confidence. 
But  more  taken  up  with  her  own  pleasure  than 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      1<^J 

with  the  interests  of  the  country,  the  Empress 
at  no  time  took  any  notice  of  the  criticisms 
made  on  her  conduct.  She  pursued  her  course 
in  the  midst  of  the  adulation  which  her  beauty 
brought  her,  as  others  have  done  in  their  folly. 

What  could  the  Emperor  avail  against  such 
obstinacy,  against  such  lack  of  foresight,  against 
such  indifference  ? 

An  open  rupture  alone  could  have  delivered 
him  from  his  sad  plight,  and  at  the  same  time 
have  saved  the  country  from  the  peril  which 
constantly  menaced  it.  But  could  he,  should 
he,  have  sought  this  rupture  .-•  And  did  he  ever 
even  think  of  provoking  it } 

Mme.  la  Comtesse  de  Castiglione,  the  second 
in  importance  of  all  the  women  who  surrounded 
the  Empress,  and  who  interested  her  deeply, 
had,  even  more  than  Mme.  de  Metternich,  the 
reputation  of  being  a  politician,  and  yet  was 
not  to  the  same  extent  the  agent  of  a  foreign 
government.  The  Comtesse  de  Castiglione  was, 
before  everything  else,  a  woman  of  intrigues  ; 
she  made  immodesty  the  fashion,  and  if  on  some 
occasions  her  beauty  became  the  auxiliary  of  the 
Turin  Cabinet,  we  should  exaggerate,  were  we  to 
attach  an  importance  which  it  never  had,  which 
it  never  could  have  had,  to  the  role  which  she 
played. 


198  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

One  evening  she  appeared  at  the  Tuileries, 
and  as  she  had  great  audacity  and  great  beauty, 
she  had  also  Imperial  love  affairs.  Napoleon 
III.,  in  his  intimacy,  called  her  "la  Mina;"  and 
I  think  she  cared  more  for  this  pet  name  than 
she  did  for  the  glory  of  being  a  diplomat  in 
skirts. 

The  foreign  policy  under  the  Empire  was  led 
by  MM.  de  Metternich  and  Nigra ;  the  former 
at  one  time  having  been  desperately  in  love  with 
the  Empress,  and  having  yielded  more  to  the 
prayers  of  her  he  loved  or  had  loved,  after 
Sadowa  in  the  Venetian  question,  than  to  the 
demands  of  his  patriotism  ;  the  second  feign- 
ing a  passion  for  his  sovereign,  so  that  he  might 
make  the  better  use  of  her  indiscretions. 

Exoticism  felt  its  end  to  be  near,  the  public 
were  weary  of  its  irksome  authority,  when,  in 
1867,  certain  kings  came  to  Paris,  and  gave  it 
new  life. 

After  the  Exposition,  these  kings  —  as  in  the 
song  of  the  carnival  —  having  left  us,  exoticism 
resumed  at  the  Tuileries  its  power  and  its  folly. 

And  when,  in  1869,  alarming  symptoms  man- 
ifested themselves  in  the  interior  policy  of  the 
country,  as  well  as  in  its  foreign  policy,  it  was 
not  in  the  least  disturbed  by  it. 

Everything  of  importance  seemed  to  be  for- 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.      1 99 

gotten  at  court  during  this  brief  period  of 
folly ;  while  the  Emperor  looked  on  with  his 
sad,  dreamy  eyes,  powerless  to  inspire  wisdom 
in  those  who  surrounded  him.  It  seemed  as  if 
the  Empress  and  Mme.  de  Metternich  and  all 
the  women  gave  full  play  to  every  infatuation, 
to  every  pleasure  ;  they  became  bolder,  more 
indecent,  and  in  the  tableaux  vivants  the  stable 
and  the  drinking-saloon  took  the  lead ;  Rome  in 
its  decline  was  surpassed  in  its  sensuality  and 
self-indulgence.  A  check  to  this  state  of  things 
became  necessary  and  inevitable  ;  and  this  check 
was  given  by  the  ominous  sound  of  the  cannon 
of  1870. 


VIII. 

BEFORE    THE    WAR    OF    1 8/0. 

In  spite  of  the  success  of  the  plebiscitum  in 
1870,  and  of  the  sudden  liberaHsm  of  the  Impe- 
rial government,  it  was  easy  for  sensible  people 
and  close  observers  to  see  that  serious  events, 
either  menacing  or  auspicious,  —  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  tell  which,  —  were  brewing.  Symptoms 
of  reconstruction,  of  revolution,  or  of  war  were 
disturbing  the  people,  and  seemed  to  cause 
throughout  the  country  a  restlessness,  an  anx- 
iety, which  was  mysterious  and  inexplicable,  but 
the  causes  of  which  were  destined  soon  to  be 
known.  The  Emperor  himself,  who,  however, 
had  given  himself  in  good  faith  and  loyalty  to 
the  political  reform  which  had  characterised  his 
entire  reign,  with  intervals  of  failure,  perhaps, 
but  not  entirely  without  glory,  —  the  Emperor 
himself,  it  must  be  stated  emphatically,  felt  his 
intellect,  his  foresight,  and  his  judgment  over- 
come in  the  presence  of  this  sudden  uncertainty, 
by  an  uneasiness  which,  under  the  influence  of 
that  apprehension  from  which  all  suffered,  he 
could  not  have  defined. 


BEFORE   THE   IV AR   OF  1870.  201 

The  court  alone,  that  is  to  say,  the  foolish 
men  and  women  who  frequented  the  Tuileries, 
and  also  the  Empress,  ignored  or  pretended  to 
ignore  these  foreboding  signs,  and  gave  them- 
selves up  to  their  customary  pleasures  of  love 
and  of  chance  in  a  life  made  up  of  instability 
and  of  thoughtlessness,  with  no  concern  for  the 
morrow. 

The  court  in  this  year  1870  had  gone  quite 
early  to  Saint-Cloud,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
having  made  known  their  intention  to  spend 
in  that  charming  place  the  months  of  June 
and  July,  and  having  decided  not  to  pay  their 
customary  visit  to  Fontainebleau  during  this 
season. 

The  Emperor,  indeed,  very  much  fatigued  and 
ill,  had  but  little  energy ;  and  the  condition  of 
his  health,  which  was  carefully  concealed  from 
the  public,  required  that  he  should  be  kept  quiet 
and  have  a  good  rest. 

However,  the  court  at  Saint-Cloud,  with  its 
traditional  gaiety,  with  its  amusements,  could 
not  be  reconciled  to  the  restraint  and  reserve 
which  the  illness  of  the  Emperor  imposed  upon 
it,  and  the  life  of  the  cocodettcs  who  surrounded 
the  Empress  was  not  materially  affected  by  it. 

The  Empress  had  with  her  on  this  occasion, 
her  nieces,  the  daughters  of  the  Duchess  d'Albe, 


202  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

and  she  on  her  part  made  every  effort  to  furnish 
them  with  amusement. 

The  young  people  who  hovered  about  Saint- 
Cloud  in  this  year  of  1870,  and  who  made  it  gay 
with  their  presence,  were  numerous  and  select. 

The  surprise  and  terror  of  this  society,  indif- 
ferent and  strangers  to  the  affairs  as  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  country,  could  not  be  described, 
when  suddenly,  like  a  flash  of  lightning  in  the 
night,  first  the  Hohenzollern  incident,  then  the 
declaration  of  war,  swept  over  France  and  set  it 
on  fire. 

Then,  in  this  brilliant  court,  forgetful  of  every- 
thing which  did  not  directly  affect  it,  there  was 
—  like  a  bewilderment  soon  followed  by  a  con- 
ventional enthusiasm  —  an  excitement  all  the 
more  thoughtless  because  those  who  expressed 
it  believed  they  were  sheltered  from  danger  by 
a  future  which  Appeared  to  them  unassailable 
and  assured. 

All,  however,  did  not  take  this  inconsistent 
attitude.  The  Empress,  and  with  her  a  set  of 
the  court  people  who  were  obedient  to  her  in 
word  and  deed,  from  the  first  day  of  the  Hohen- 
zollern incident  adopted  a  position  from  which 
they  did  not  depart,  and  declared  themselves 
from  the  first  resolutely  in  favour  of  war. 

It  was  hoped  that  among  those  resolutely  de- 


BEFORE   THE  IV A R  OF  i8jo.  203 

termined  on  a  rupture  between  France  and 
Germany,  would  be  found  the  Due  de  Gramont, 
who  at  that  time  was  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
and  upon  whom  public  hatred  has  since  vented 
itself ;  upon  whom,  also,  the  official  world,  with 
its  peculiar  hypocrisy  and  egotism,  has  tried  to 
throw  all  the  blame. 

The  Due  de  Gramont,  like  Napoleon  III. — 
the  time  has  come  to  say  this  —  was  opposed  to 
all  war,  and  he  spent  himself  in  vain,  during  the 
few  days  which  preceded  the  irremediable  and 
fatal  step,  endeavouring  to  renew  amicable  rela- 
tions between  the  cabinets  of  Berlin  and  Paris. 

But  he  alone,  or  almost  alone,  held  this  opin- 
ion ;  for  the  will  and  authority  of  the  Emperor 
were  not  recognised  since  the  parliament  had 
made  him  a  constitutional  monarch,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  yield  to  the  exigency  of  his  colleagues, 
who,  strongly  approved  by  the  Empress,  did 
not  conceal  their  impatient  and  belligerent  de- 
sires. 

M.  le  Due  de  Gramont,  it  may  be  said,  under 
these  circumstances  should  have  sent  in  his  re- 
signation. He  did  offer  it  in  full  council,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Emperor,  with  an  impatient 
and  indignant  gesture,  renouncing  with  despair 
all  hope  of  making  these  men,  who  only  listened 
to  the  promptings  of  ambition  or  vanity,  under- 


204  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Stand  all  the  consequences  of  a  war  between 
France  and,  not  only  Prussia,  but  all  Germany. 
He  threw  on  the  table  his  portfolio  and  directed, 
his  steps  towards  the  door.  The  Emperor 
deeply  moved,  went  towards  him  and  detained 
him. 

"  No,  no !  remain,  my  dear  Due,"  he  said ; 
"remain,  I  pray  you,  and  do  not  make  a  minis- 
terial crisis  for  me  at  this  time  !  " 

And  as  the  Due  resisted,  seeking  to  escape 
from  the  insistence  of  the  sovereign.  Napoleon 
seized  his  hands,  and,  I  am  told,  with  a  sob  in 
his  voice,  entreated  him,  — 

"  Gramont,  my  friend,  I  implore  you,  do  not 
leave  me.  I  ask  this  of  you  as  a  personal 
favor." 

M.  de  Gramont  was  perplexed,  disarmed, 
overcome  by  a  reverential  pity  for  the  Emperor, 
who,  now  broken  in  health,  but  yesterday  was 
well  and  strong.  With  a  vague  gesture,  in  an- 
swer to  the  royal  supplication,  he  went  back  to 
his  place,  and  resumed  his  functions. 

From  this  time  he  accepted,  loyally,  chival- 
rously, the  consequences  of  his  submission,  and 
it  was  he,  who,  as  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
brought  to  the  parliament  the  fatal  declaration. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  has  been,  and  still  is, 
publicly  accused  of  having  desired,   as   I   have 


BEFORE  THE  IVAR  OF  1870.  20$ 

said  before,  this  war  of  1870,  which  was  so  fatal 
to  her  capital.     She  did  desire  it. 

Innumerable  stories  have  been  published  on 
this  subject,  none  of  which  can  be  proved. 
What  shall  we  believe  .? 

It  is  a  historical  fact  long  since  admitted  that 
the  Emperor  was  averse  to  any  declaration  of 
war. 

Sometime  before  the  fatal  resolution  which 
brought  his  reign  to  an  end,  he  had  known  of 
documents  which  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  strength 
of  Prussia,  of  its  sentiments  towards  us,  and  in- 
formation on  this  subject  was  sent  to  him  every 
day  from  his  foreign  agents. 

One  of  these  agents  had  even  sent  to  a  lady 
of  his  acquaintance  a  note  which  I  reproduce 
here  word  for  word,  and  which  strengthened 
the  Emperor  in  his  resolution. 

Karlsbad, /«««  26. 

I  have  just  returned  from  dining  with  the  King  of 
Prussia,  with  Bismarck,  Manteuffei,  etc.  Tliesc  people 
belong  to  the  reactionists,  and  such  examples  are  dan- 
gerous. Manteuffei  talks  of  the  "Coalition  of  Kings" 
against  the  entire  democratic  rabble  of  the  chamber,  and 
wants  to  return  to  the  paternal  absolutism !  I  dared  to 
speak  to  him  of  the  practical  question  of  money,  and  re- 
ceived the  following  incredi])Ie  answer  :  — 

"  The  best  wars  are  fought  without  money  !  Only  let 
us  begin,  and  in  two  months  we  will  look  for  money  in 
Paris!" 


206  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

I  scrutinised  him  closely  to  see  if  he  had  been  drink- 
ing, and  he  continued  :  — 

"We  stand  about  where  we  did  in  1851  at  Olmlitz ; 
but  you  fellows  have  no  Schwarzenberg  to-day  !  "  What 
do  you  think  of  that?  These  people  ought  to  be  locked 
up. 

Does  not  this  letter  —  unsigned,  but  authentic 
—  afford  a  curious  insight,  and  does  it  not  say- 
all  that  could  be  said  of  the  men  who  surrounded 
old  William  ?  Does  it  not  also  represent  Gen- 
eral Manteuffel  in  an  entirely  different  light 
from  that  in  which  he  had  hitherto  been  repre- 
sented ? 

The  Empress  could  not  remain  ignorant  of 
the  views  of  Napoleon  III. ;  and  we  are  some- 
what justified  in  asking  how,  on  such  a  solemn 
occasion,  her  opinion  prevailed  against  that  of 
her  husband.  Up  to  the  last  moment  the  Em- 
peror did  not  conceal  his  uneasiness.  Even  at 
Saint-Cloud,  at  the  time  of  his  departure  for  the 
army,  answering  those  who  enthusiastically  ex- 
claimed, "  In  eight  days  we  shall  be  in  Berlin ! " 
he  had  muttered,  "  Do  not  say  that  ;  the  cam- 
paign will  be  a  long  one,  even  if  we  are  victo- 
rious." 

In  the  presence  of  such  statements,  it  might 
be  presumed  that  there  was  a  disagreement  be- 
tween the  Emperor  and  Empress.  However, 
men  of  undoubted  veracity,  of  unlimited  devo- 


BEFORE   THE  IVAR  OF  iSjo.  20/ 

tion  to  everything  connected  with  the  Imperial 
family,  insist  that  such  was  not  the  case ;  and, 
as  I  wish  to  be  merely  an  impartial  narrator,  I 
cannot  pass  in  -silence  the  account  of  the  last 
scene  before  the  signature  of  the  declaration  of 
war.  This  account  is  given  by  one  of  the  most 
prominent  characters  of  the  Second  Empire, 
and,  if  I  did  not  know  this  man  to  be  incapable 
of  falsehood,  I  would  hesitate  to  tell  it. 

The  Emperor,  then,  did  not  wish  to  go  to 
war ;  and  when,  in  the  council  of  his  ministers, 
—  the  crisis  having  reached  its  height,  —  the 
decree  relative  to  hostilities  was  submitted  to 
him  for  signature,  to  be  followed  by  the  fore- 
seen vote  of  chambers,  he  refused  to  put  his 
name  to  the  terrible  paper.  As  they  insisted, 
he  became  angry,  he  —  the  gentle,  obstinate  one, 
as  his  mother  called  him  —  became  violent,  and 
seizing  the  decree,  tore  it  in  pieces,  and  scat- 
tered the  fragments  on  the  floor. 

Then,  exhausted,  worn  out  as  much  by  the 
importunity  of  those  who  pursued  him  as  by  the 
physical  sufferings  which  he  had  borne  for  some 
time,  he  withdrew  to  his  bedchamber. 

The  Empress,  on  hearing  of  the  scene  which 
had  just  taken  place,  and  of  the  determination 
of  the  Emperor,  was  much  annoyed.  She  was 
most  indignant.     She  now  became  angry,  and 


208  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

having  compelled  the  ministers  to  restore  the 
manuscript  of  the  decree,  she  took  possession 
of  the  new  document,  and  went  with  it  to 
the  Emperor,  who  signed  it,  as  it  were  in  a 
dream. 

Such  is  the  anecdote.  It  is  of  serious  im- 
port ;  and,  I  repeat,  if  I  had  not  heard  it  told  by 
trustworthy  lips,  I  would  consider  it  as  a  pure 
invention. 

It  seems  to  be  admitted  that  it  was  the  for- 
mal desire  of  the  Empress  that  the  French  gov- 
ernment should  show  to  Prussia  an  unusual 
rigidity,  in  consideration  of  the  withdrawal  of 
its  claims,  and  that  they  exacted  from  the  Prus- 
sian cabinet  what  was  then  called  a  "  guar- 
anty." 

The  Empress,  it  is  said,  was  controlled  on  this 
occasion  by  a  deep  sentiment.  As  a  Spaniard, 
she  had  been  much  distressed  at  the  thought 
that  a  stranger  might  rule  over  her  native  land ; 
and  when  the  Emperor,  at  Saint-Cloud,  after  the 
temporary  abatement  of  the  conflict,  arrived,  re- 
joiced to  have  at  last  put  an  end  to  the  general 
anxiety,  she  received  him  very  coldly.  The 
courtiers  sympathised  with  her,  and  a  council  of 
ministers  was  decided  upon,  and  the  war,  post- 
poned for  a  time,  became  inevitable. 

Yes,  the  Emperor  was  overjoyed  when,  for  a 


BEFORE  THE  IVAR  OF  iSjo.  209 

moment,  he  thought  that  the  amicable  relations 
between  France  and  Prussia  had  been  renewed. 
But,  alas !  he  had  not  been  master  since  1 867  ; 
and  the  Empress,  whom  a  crowd  of  intriguing 
and  interested  acquaintances  sustained  in  the 
fixed  idea  of  governing  and  mingling  her  au- 
thority with  that  of  the  politicians  and  col- 
leagues of  her  husband,  imposed  on  all  her  will, 
her  wishes,  and  her  inconsequence. 

In  1870  the  Empress,  impelled  by  no  one 
knows  what  circle  of  ambitious  and  insignificant 
persons,  anxious  to  advance  themselves,  under 
cover  of  the  public  excitement,  entrenched  her- 
self behind  a  systematic  obstinacy  ;  repulsing 
every  effort  at  conciliation,  and  placing  the  Em- 
peror in  a  position  where  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  disapprove  of  her  actions  without  creat- 
ing a  scandal.  She  resolutely  took  her  place 
among  the  counsellors  as  the  very  soul  of  the 
approaching  campaign. 

The  Empress  answered  all  remonstrance  with 
the  same  resolute  determination.  Her  argu- 
ments in  favour  of  immediate  action  were  not 
limited,  moreover,  to  the  sentimental  expression 
of  her  caprices  or  of  her  political  egotism.  She 
had  really  been  convinced  by  familiar  conversa- 
tions and  by  a  demonstrative  homage,  that  MM. 
de  Metternich  and  Nigra  would  prefer  the  cause 


2IO  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

of  France  to  their  respective  governments,  and 
she  counted  on  doubtful  alliances. 

There  was  no  ostensible  reason  indeed,  why 
Austria  should  abandon  her  peace  —  partially- 
regained  since  Sadowa  —  in  order  to  defend  a 
nation  that  had  stood  by  and  allowed  her  to  be 
crushed.  Metternich,  who  was  interviewed  on 
the  subject,  gave  the  following  answer,  which 
since  then  has  left  no  doubt  regarding  the  sup- 
port of  Austria. 

"  It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  take  sides  with 
you  in  the  impending  struggle ;  for  we  fore- 
see the  sad  certainty  of  your  defeat.  You 
do  not  know  your  enemy  ;  he  is  stronger  than 
you,  and  I  would  not  dare  to  affirm  that 
he  could  not  conquer  the  combined  armies 
of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  and  of  my  august 
master." 

As  to  Italy  and  Victor  Emmanuel,  who  also 
loved  the  Emperor  sincerely,  a  national  interest, 
for  which  we  cannot  censure  them  too  severely, 
would  not  allow  them  to  come  to  our  aid.  They 
hoped,  whether  France  was  victorious  or  not,  to 
take  possession  of  Rome  under  cover  of  the  dis- 
organisation which  would  follow  ;  and  the  long- 
ing to  escape  from  our  guardianship  of  the 
Pontifical  States  took  the  precedence  of  all 
generosity  and  of  all  gratitude  in  the  heart  of 


BEFORE   THE   IVAR  OF  iSjo.  211 

the  King  and  in  the  mind  of  the  people.  It 
was  thus  that  war  with  Prussia  was  declared ; 
it  was  under  such  circumstances  as  these  that 
the  Empress  did  not  hesitate  to  risk,  at  the 
cannon's  mouth,  the  future  of  France  and 
of  the  Napoleonic  dynasty.  An  ironic  fate 
seemed  to  overrule  and  combine  all  things 
for  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  III.  and  the 
nation. 

While  violent  scenes  were  taking  place  at  the 
ministerial  council  between  M.  de  Gramont  and 
his  colleagues,  other  scenes,  no  less  violent,  were 
occurring  between  the  Emperor  and  his  wife ; 
and  amongst  the  intimate  friends  of  the  court 
strange  events  were  happening,  which  betray 
the  disorganisation  existing  in  the  official  world 
and  in  the  Imperial  chambers,  during  the  year 
1870.  Did  not  a  general,  an  aide-de-camp  of 
Napoleon  III.,  whose  name  I  may  not  men- 
tion, dare  one  day  at  Saint-Cloud,  when  all  pre- 
text for  hostility  seemed  to  have  been  waived,  to 
rise  up  against  what  he  called  the  public  laxity, 
and  unbuckling  his  sword,  throw  it  across  a 
billiard  table,  exclaiming  that,  if  they  did  not  go 
to  war  with  Prussia,  he  would  break  his  sword .' 
The  Empress  herself,  at  Saint-Cloud,  on  the 
very  day  that  her  husband  left  for  the  army, 
flew  into    a    passion    while  breakfasting,    at  a 


212  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

dubious  remark  of  the  Emperor  concerning  the 
issue  at  hand,  and  at  his  attitude,  which  was  full 
of  sadness. 

The  Empress,  rebuking  her  husband,  struck 
the  table  suddenly,  exclaiming  that  "  no  one 
understood  her,  and  that  he  wished  to  bring  her 
ill  luck." 

Those  who  were  present  at  this  breakfast  will 
remember  the  incident. 

The  Emperor  took  his  departure.  It  would 
seem  that  the  Empress  was  impatient,  if  not  to 
be  alone  (the  hypothesis  would  not  be  admis- 
sible), at  least  to  possess  the  power  which  would 
be  hers  in  the  absence  of  the  sovereign,  and 
which  she  had  long  coveted.  Up  to  the  very 
last  moment  of  her  capricious  sway  she  asserted 
this  desire ;  and  when  the  Emperor  —  as  I  will 
show  in  the  next  chapter  of  this  work  —  wished 
to  enter  Paris  with  his  son  after  our  first  repulse, 
she  formally  opposed  his  return.  And  yet  — 
who  knows  .-*  —  perhaps  the  safety  of  the  dy- 
nasty, as  well  as  the  safety  of  the  entire  country, 
may  have  depended  upon  the  Emperor's  pres- 
ence at  the  Tuileries. 

Instead  of  creeping  along  —  by  the  order  of 
his  wife  —  humiliated,  with  no  power  to  com- 
mand, he  might  have  re-established  order  at  the 
capital,    even    with    his    demoralised    and   van- 


BEFORE   THE   IV A R   OF  i8jo.  21 3 

quished  army.  He  might  have  demanded  an 
honourable  treaty  of  peace ;  and,  doubtless,  at 
this  juncture  Germany  might  not  have  asked 
of  this  man,  unfortunate  but  still  free,  an  indem- 
nity of  five  billions  and  the  sacrifice  of  two 
provinces. 


IX. 

AFTER    SEDAN. 

Whether  or  not  the  Empress  had  desired 
war,  and  had  instigated  it,  it  is  certain  the  war 
affected  her,  as  it  did  the  country  of  which  she 
was  queen,  and  as  it  did  those  who  marched 
enthusiastic  towards  the  frontiers,  alas !  only 
towards  chimerical  triumphs. 

Her  attitude  on  the  Fourth  of  September  is 
well  known.  Almost  abandoned  by  her  retinue 
and  friends,  she  left  the  Tuileries  in  a  plain  car- 
riage, not  being  able  to  overtake  the  carriage 
which  her  former  friends  and  adorers,  MM.  de 
Metternich  and  Nigra,  had  put  at  her  disposal. 

The  wife  of  an  illustrious  soldier,  Mme.  la 
Marechale  Canrobert,  had  also  offered  the  Em- 
press the  use  of  her  conveyance,  and  had  begged 
her  to  accept  it.  But  the  Empress  answered  all 
these  entreaties  in  monosyllables,  muttering  in 
a  vague,  unconscious  manner  these  words,  which 
perhaps  a  modern  Shakespeare  could  alone  in- 
terpret, — 

"  A  hollow  dream  !  .  .  .  a  hollow  dream  !  " 
214 


AFTER.  SEDAN.  215 

It  was  almost  tragic.  To  what  dream  did  she 
refer  ?  To  her  own,  which  had  lasted  for  eigh- 
teen years  ?  Or  to  that  of  the  few  friends  who 
still  surrounded  her,  and  who  were  partakers  of 
her  own  sad  vision  ? 

It  has  also  been  said  that  the  Empress  became 
frightened  on  the  Fourth  of  September,  This 
is  a  mistake.  The  Empress  was  not  of  a  timid 
nature ;  like  the  women  of  her  country,  solemn 
and  perilous  circumstances  only  seemed  to  rouse 
in  her  a  certain  energy  and  madness  which  de- 
prived her  of  all  sense  of  danger,  of  all  weakness. 

She  might  have  used,  in  her  flight,  one  of  the 
carriages  offered  her.  But  she  preferred  to  go 
away  incognito  in  order,  so  she  said,  not  to 
excite  scandal,  and  that  she  might  not  be  ac- 
cused of  placing  her  own  self-interest  before  the 
interests  of  the  country  at  a  moment  when  dis- 
integration threatened  France.  This  was  surely 
a  noble  sentiment  in  her.  I  do  not  think  that 
this  critical  moment  of  her  life  has  ever  been 
viewed  in  this  light. 

Those  who  have  systematically  depreciated 
her  have  attempted  to  establish  an  unfavourable 
comparison  between  her  flight  and  the  public 
departure  of  her  cousin,  the  Princess  Clotilde. 
They  have  doubtless  forgotten  that  Madame 
la  Princess  Clotilde,  daughter  of    the  King  of 


2l6  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Italy,  could  dare  to  do  what  would  have  been 
an  impossibility  for  the  Empress.  Thus  are 
traditions  born ;  thus,  let  us  hope,  do  they  die. 

Thanks  to  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Evans,  the 
Empress  Eugenie  succeeded  in  reaching  Eng- 
land, where  she  passed  several  days  without 
hearing  from  the  Emperor  —  Napoleon  also  re- 
maining in  ignorance  of  his  wife's  condition  for 
some  time  after  the  Battle  of  Sedan.  It  was 
not  until  he  reached  Belgium  that  the  latter,  in 
fact,  learned  of  the  departure  and  safety  of  his 
wife,  and  so  was  able  to  inform  her  of  his  last 
sad  journey. 

^  The  last  moments  which  the  Emperor  spent 
in  France  are  well  known.  The  hours  of  agony 
which  he  endured  after  he  left  France,  a  pris- 
oner on  his  way  through  Belgium  to  Germany, 
are  less  familiar.     Let  me  recall  them  here, 

A  few  months  ago,  being  in  Belgium,  I  was 
dining  with  General  Sterckx,  the  head  of  the 
war  department,  and,  very  naturally,  he  brought 
to  recollection  a  few  of  the  events  of  that  terri- 
ble year. 

As  the  General  was  saying  that,  in  1870, 
being  only  a  captain  then,  he,  with  Qeneral 
Chazal,  formed  part  of  the  escort  which  accom- 
panied Napoleon  III.  on  his  way  to  Wilhelms- 
hohe,  I    begged    him   to  tell   me  the  incidents 


AFTER  SEDAN.  217 

of  that  journey,  and  he  related  to  me  the  fol- 
lowing facts  :  — 

The  journey  from  Sedan  was  a  fearful  ordeal 
for  the  Emperor.  He  could  scarcely  keep  on  his 
horse,  he  was  suffering  such  pain.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  so,  however,  by  leaning  with 
both  hands  on  the  pommel  of  the  saddle,  never 
allowing  a  single  complaint  to  escape  from  him. 

When,  surrounded  by  a  detachment  of  Uhlans, 
he  arrived  on  the  frontier,  the  Belgians  replaced 
the  Germans,  and  took  him  in  charge.  Thus  he 
was  led  to  Bouillon,  where  he  was  at  last  allowed 
to  rest  while  waiting  to  be  conducted  to  the  resi- 
dence which  had  been  assigned  to  him. 

A  strange  coincidence  !  The  room  given  to 
the  Emperor,  a  common  room  in  a  provincial 
hotel,  containing  two  beds  with  white  curtains, 
a  chandelier,  a  few  chairs,  and  a  worn-out  carpet, 
was  ornamented  by  three  lithographs,  represent- 
ing Mars  cursing  Destiny,  Apollo  playing  his 
lyre,  and  Vulcan  being  hurled  from  heaven. 

The  Emperor  sat  down  in  an  arm-chair,  near 
a  window,  and  at  intervals  pushed  aside  the 
curtain,  let  it  fall  again,  and  then  remained 
motionless. 

It  was  here  that  he  learned  of  the  death  of 
General  Margueritte.  On  hearing  the  announce- 
ment he  shuddered,  and  muttering  words  expres- 


21 8  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

sive  of  his  sympathy  with  his  late  brother-in-arms, 
relapsed  into  a  silence  which  no  one  dared  break. 

Time  was  passing,  however,  and  the  moment 
approached  when  the  sovereign  had  to  be  con- 
veyed to  the  nearest  railroad  station  in  order  to 
go  farther  into  exile.  But  a  complication  arose. 
The  people,  who  had  quickly  learned  of  the 
presence  of  Napoleon  at  the  hotel,  had  crowded 
about  the  house,  and  were  gesticulating  in  a 
hostile  manner.  General  Chazal  and  his  aide- 
de-camp,  Captain  Sterckx,  who  arrived  at  this 
moment,  feared  lest  the  mob  should  insult  the 
fallen  Emperor,  and  entered  the  hotel,  after  hav- 
ing seen  that  the  carriages  for  Napoleon  and  his 
suite  were  at  the  door. 

Several  officers  were  with  the  Emperor, 
amongst  them  Generals  Pajol,  Waubert  de  Gen- 
lis,  de  la  Moskowa,  Reille,  Lieutenant  Prince 
Murat,  Captain  Hepp,  Drs.  Corvisart  and  Con- 
neau,  M.  Pietri,  M.  Raimbaut  ;  and  mingled 
with  these  were  a  few  Germans,  General  Baron 
de  Boyen,  and  the  Lieutenant  Prince  de  Lynar, 
the  same  who  had  accompanied  Napoleon  III. 
from  Sedan,  and  turned  over  the  care  of  their 
prisoner  to  General  Chazal. 

They  were  to  drive  from  Bouillon  to  Libra- 
mont,  and  thence  by  train  to  Vervicrs. 

The  departure,  contrary  to  the  fears  of  Gen- 


/iFTER  SEDAN.  219 

eral  Chazal  and  Captain  Sterckx,  took  place 
without  much  difficulty.  The  first  stop  was  made 
at  Recogne,  where  the  Emperor  was  received 
by  the  Belgian  troops,  who,  on  seeing  him,  pre- 
sented arms,  while  for  miles  around  the  drums 
beat  and  the  trumpets  sounded. 

The  Emperor  reviewed  the  small  army,  com- 
plimented its  head  officers,  and,  having  bowed, 
directed  his  steps,  accompanied  by  his  guard,  to 
a  small  inn,  where  he  breakfasted. 

After  breakfast  he  went  out  and  smoked  while 
he  walked  up  and  down  in  front  of  the  inn. 
Then  perceiving  a  battery  of  artillery,  he  went 
towards  it,  and  entered  into  conversation  with 
the  commanding  officer. 

He  examined  each  gun  minutely  and  with  a 
sad  curiosity  ;  for  these  guns  were  similar  to 
those  used  by  the  Prussian  army.  Turning  to 
the  staff  officers,  he  pointed  to  them,  sighing, 
"  These,  sir,  are  the  cannon  with  which  we  were 
beaten." 

At  Libramont,  after  the  crowd  had  been  dis- 
persed with  difficulty,  they  reached  the  station  ; 
and  in  spite  of  the  obstruction  caused  by  the 
transfer  of  the  prisoners  and  wounded  soldiers, 
they  finally  entered  the  cars. 

An  incident  occurred,  however,  before  the  de- 
parture of  the  train. 


220  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

A  poor,  crazy  man  suddenly  rushed  through 
the  crowd,  and  ran  towards  the  station.  On 
being  pushed  back  he  began  to  cry  and  to 
shriek,  begging  to  be  taken  to  the  Emperor. 
"  France,  he  insisted,  was  victorious  ;  the  Prince 
Imperial  was  on  the  throne,  and  the  nations  of 
Europe,  united  against  Germany,  were  sending 
their  soldiers  to  the  rescue  of  Napoleon  !  "  He 
was  seized  by  the  gendarmes,  and  taken  away  ; 
but  as  he  disappeared,  his  voice  could  still  be 
heard  in  the  distance  shouting,  "  Long  live  the 
Emperor  !  " 

At  Jemelle,  where  they  halted,  the  Prince 
Pierre  Bonaparte  came  to  pay  his  respects  to 
his  cousin,  who  embraced  him  warmly.  Then 
they  passed  Marloie  and  Liege  without  stop- 
ping, until  they  reached  Verviers,  where,  it  had 
been  decided,  the  Emperor  should  leave  the 
cars  and  again  have  some  rest. 

The  Railroad  Hotel  had  been  chosen  to  re- 
ceive the  sovereign  and  his  suite.  This  hotel 
was  only  about  three  hundred  feet  from  the  sta- 
tion, but  the  crowd  that  had  gathered  around 
the  Imperial  train  was  so  thick  they  almost  gave 
up  all  hope  of  making  way  through  it. 

When  Napoleon  III.  appeared,  the  pressure 
threw  him  forward,  and  a  clamour  arose  ;  the  air 
was  filled  with  conflicting  cries,  amongst  which 


/iFTER  SEDAN.  221 

could  be  distinguished,  "  Long  live  France  ! " 
"  Long  live  Prussia  !  "  "  Down  with  the  Em- 
peror !  "  "  Long  live  the  Emperor ! "  "  Down 
with  the  Prussians ! " 

A  tumult  ensued,  and  the  protectors  of  the 
Emperor  took  advantage  of  it  to  hastily  seek 
shelter  for  him  and  themselves  in  the  hotel. 

After  dinner,  the  Emperor  having  meantime 
received  telegraphic  intelligence,  informing  him 
of  the  events  which  had  occurred  in  Paris, 
addressed  those  about  him  in  the  following 
words  :  — 

"  Gentlemen,  the  Republic  is  proclaimed  in 
Paris,  and  I  have  a  successor  —  M.  de  Roche- 
fort.  As  to  the  Empress  and  the  Prince  Im- 
perial, rest  assured  they  are  far  from  all  danger. 
The  Empress  is  in  England,  and  my  son,  as 
well  as  myself,  is  your  guest.  He  is  with  M. 
le  Comte  de  Baillet,  governor  of  Namur." 

Then,  having  retired  to  his  room,  he  sat  up 
most  of  the  night  dictating  notes  on  the  Battle 
of  Sedan. 

The  departure  for  Cassel,  which  was  the  last, 
was  fixed  for  the  next  day  at  noon.  This 
day  seemed  to  threaten  serious  difficulties. 
Certain  it  is  that  early  in  the  morning  a  police 
officer  came  to  receive  his  orders  from  General 
Chazal,  and  did  not  conceal  from  him  that  hos- 


222  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

tile  manifestations  were  expected,  and  that  the 
working-men  of  Verviers  had  determined  en 
masse  to  witness  the  departure  of  Napoleon. 
There  had  been  some  talk  of  violence  in  the 
taverns,  and  several  fanatics  had  said  that  they 
would  shoot  the  Emperor. 

Troops  were  considered  necessary,  and  were 
stationed  along  the  road  leading  to  the  station, 
the  entrance  to  the  hotel  having  been  protected. 

Out  of  consideration  for  the  Emperor  they 
had  thoughtfully  concealed  from  him  the  atti- 
tude of  the  population  of  Verviers,  and  the 
fears  which  it  had  awakened ;  but  when  the 
time  came  to  start,  it  was  impossible  to  keep 
him  any  longer  in  ignorance. 

The  crowd,  in  fact  in  the  squares  and  in 
the  streets,  was  immense,  and  they  surrounded 
the  hotel  like  a  living  belt  of  men  and  women, 
incapable  of  restraint. 

Continuous  cries,  apostrophes,  and  insults 
burst  forth  from  the  crowd,  and  echoed  against 
the  fagade  of  the  hotel,  growing  more  vio- 
lent every  minute.  General  Chazal  had  ordered 
the  station-agent  to  make  a  private  opening  in 
the  wall  of  the  station,  so  that  the  Emperor 
could  escape  to  the  refuge  of  his  car  without 
hindrance.  Having  decided  that  he  would  ad- 
dress the  people  while  the  unfortunate  sovereign 


/IFTER  SEDAN.  22$ 

was  entering  the  station,  all  that  remained  was 
to  carry  out  his  plan.  Outside,  the  crowd  grew 
bigger  and  more  menacing  every  moment,  and 
it  became  necessary  to  act  promptly. 

General  Chazal  hesitated  no  longer.  Followed 
by  Captain  Sterckx,  he  appeared  at  the  door  of 
the  hotel,  and,  looking  fixedly  at  the  multitude, 
made  a  sign  indicating  that  he  wished  to  speak. 
There  was  a  sudden  silence. 

"Gentlemen!"  he  exclaimed,  "the  Emperor 
of  the  French  is  to  appear  before  you.  He  is 
going  to  Germany  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  But 
at  this  moment  he  is  our  guest ;  I  beg  you, 
in  the  name  of  Belgian  hospitality,  in  the  name 
of  the  hospitality  of  your  city,  to  treat  him  with 
the  respect  and  consideration  due  to  his  great 
misfortune.  Gentlemen,  I  know  you ;  and  I 
know  you  will  not  fail  of  your  duty  under  such 
trying  circumstances." 

Instantly  the  excitement  veered  about.  To 
the  credit  of  this  crowd,  of  all  crowds,  these 
words  were  scarcely  spoken  when  the  exclama- 
tions but  now  insulting  to  the  unfortunate 
man,  were  turned  into  plaudits  of  hurrahs  and 
acclamations. 

"  Long  live  General  Chazal ! "  shouted  the 
people. 

The  Emperor  came  forward,  leaning  on  the 


224  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

arm  of  the  old  soldier,  descended  with  him 
the  steps  of  the  hotel,  followed  by  the  Prussian 
General  de  Boyen,  who  gave  his  arm  to  Captain 
Sterckx.  The  crowd  became  suddenly  calm  and 
respectful ;  and,  profoundly  impressed  by  the 
Imperial  presence,  uncovered  their  heads,  and 
in  absolute  silence  gazed  upon  the  Emperor  as 
he  went  by  —  the  vanquished  Emperor  of  to- 
day, who  but  yesterday  walked  in  a  blaze  of 
light. 

When  the  train  moved  off,  the  people  stood 
still  in  a  contemplative  attitude,  grouped  around 
the  station.  The  Emperor  appeared  at  the  door 
of  the  car.  Then  the  crowd,  as  one  man,  from 
an  instinctive  and  spontaneous  emotion  of  chiv- 
alry, rent  the  air  with  a  vibrating  and  enthusi- 
astic shout : — 

"  Long  live  the  Emperor  ! " 

And  in  the  presence  of  those  uncovered 
heads,  uplifted  in  supreme  homage  —  the  hom- 
age paid  to  those  about  to  die  —  Napoleon  III. 
bowed  his  head  in  a  last  greeting. 


X. 

AFTER    THE    FOURTH    OF    SEPTEMBER. 

Some  time  previous  to  these  events,  when  the 
Empire  still  flourished,  an  eccentric  Englishman 
—  tradition  says  all  Englishmen  are  eccentric  — 
had  put  in  order  a  house  which  he  owned  at 
Camden  Place,  Chiselhurst,  saying  :  — 

"  I  am  convinced  that  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
III.,  in  spite  of  all  appearances  to  the  contrary, 
will  be  dethroned  some  day  or  will  grow  tired 
of  reigning  over  France.  Then  he  will  come  to 
England,  and  will  live  here." 

Events  proved  that  Mr.  Strode  —  the  name 
of  this  Englishman  —  was  a  prophet  in  his  own 
country,  thus  giving  the  lie  to  the  proverb. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  was  preceded,  as 
is  well  known,  at  Camden  Place,  by  the  Empress 
and  the  Prince  Imperial.  It  was  in  this  house 
that,  after  the  Fourth  of  September,  the  Bour- 
baki  incident  was  unfolded.  From  this  house 
the  Empress  Eugenie  wrote  to  those  who  had 
not  forgotten  her  the  few  letters  produced  in 
this  chapter.     This  correspondence  will  provide 


226  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

better  material  than  mere  anecdotes  for  future 
historians  when  they  turn  to  her  attitude  in 
exile.  They  make  clear  and  convincing  her 
unceasing  interest  in  the  events  which  were 
disturbing  France,  and  impart  fresh  significance 
to  the  various  and  unreliable  reports  that  have 
appeared  in  newspapers  or  in  books  of  little 
authority. 

Of  the  Bourbaki  incident  —  of  the  General 
leaving  Metz,  and  going  unexpectedly  to  see  the 
Empress,  —  I  will  say  nothing,  as  it  has  been 
sufficiently  narrated  and  commented  on  already. 

Before  the  Fourth  of  September,  after  Reis- 
choffen,  the  Emperor  had  made  known  to  the 
Empress  his  desire  to  return  to  Paris.  But  she 
energetically  opposed  this  plan,  and  in  answer- 
ing her  husband  had  said  :  — 

"  Come  back  victorious,  or  do  not  come  at  all. 
All  or  nothing  !  " 

A  short  time  after  Sedan,  while  Napoleon  was 
still  in  exile,  the  Prussian  ambassador  in  Lon- 
don, M.  le  Comte  Bernsdorff,  after  a  consultation 
with  M.  de  Persigny,  urged  the  Empress  to  sign, 
as  Regent,  a  Treaty  of  Peace,  in  consideration 
of  the  ceding  of  Strasbourg  and  its  suburbs,  and 
forty  million  pounds.  The  Empress  took  refuge 
behind  her  pride,  and  refused  the  offer  of  the 
diplomat.     She  would  not,  by  her  intervention, 


AFTER   THE  FOURTH  OF  SEPTEMBER.      22/ 

make  trouble  for  the  country  which  had  dis- 
owned her,  or  be  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the 
government  which,  having  succeeded  hers,  had 
undertaken  to  defend  its  native  land.  It  is  said 
that  the  government  for  National  Defence,  learn- 
ing the  attitude  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  nego- 
tiated with  her  and  tendered  her  their  profound 
thanks. 

I  cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  state- 
ment, but  here  is  a  letter  from  the  sovereign 
which  would  seem  to  deny  it. 

Camden  Place,  Chiselhurst,  November  20,  1870. 
The  same  reasons  which  have  inspired  in  me  a  great 
reserve  still  exist.  But  I  deny  with  indignation  that  I 
have  had  any  relation  with  the  Cabinet  of  Tours.  In 
answer  to  a  letter  of  a  diplomat  who  is  a  friend  of  mine, 
and  who  had  entreated  me  to  prevent  the  capitulation  of 
Metz  until  the  end  of  the  armistice,  if  it  were  in  my  power, 
I  wrote  that  the  capitulation  being  merely  a  question  of  a 
few  hours,  provisions  being  needed,  they  should,  if  they 
would  save  it,  hurry  on  the  armistice. 

In  the  same  letter,  further  on,  the  Empress 
expresses  herself  very  energetically  on  the  sub- 
ject of  General  Trochu  ;  and  coming  to  the 
famous  question  of  his  departure,  she  is  care- 
ful to  state  the  exact  position  which  she  took 
at  that  time.  The  first  sentence  doubtless 
alludes  to  some  private  remark,  the  subject  of 
which  I  am  ignorant  of  :  — 


228  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Those  who  know  me,  know  well  that  I  would  sacri- 
fice my  interests  to  the  preservation  of  the  army,  but  that 
I  would  never  consider  it  creditable  to  sacrifice  a  friend. 
As  to  the  affair  of  the  4th,  I  would  simply  say  that  Gen- 
eral Trochu  deserted  me,  if  he  did  not  do  worse.  He 
never  appeared  at  the  Tuileries  after  the  invasion  of  the 
chamber,  nor  did  the  ministers,  with  the  exception  of 
three,  who  insisted  on  my  departure ;  and  I  did  not  wish 
to  leave  until  the  Tuileries  were  invaded.  Light  will 
break  on  this  as  on  other  things.  Try  to  rectify  these 
facts.  But  I  think  that  General  Changarnier  has  already 
learned  all  this  from  General  Boyer,  who  has  been 
well  informed  in  regard  to  everything  that  has  taken 
place  here. 

Then,  coming  back  to  these  events,  she 
adds  :  — 

The  news  from  France  grieves  me.  This  madman 
Gambetta  appears  ambitious  to  replace  the  organisation, 
of  which  we  are  so  much  in  need,  by  tumult  and  disorder ; 
the  success  of  the  army  of  the  Loire  has  given  us  fresh 
courage ;  but  I  dread  to  see  it  undertake  a  march  which 
may  cause  its  ruin,  like  that  of  Sedan. 

May  God  protect  them.  It  seems  to  me  we  are 
approaching  the  end. 

Here  public  opinion  is  too  much  aroused :  they  talk 
of  war,  but  they  hope  for  a  congress.  .  .  . 

A  few  days  before  the  20th  of  November,  the 
date  of  this  letter,  the  Empress  had  written  an- 
other letter  in  which  her  patriotic  sentiments 
overflowed  ;  and  I  reproduce  it  here  because  it 
is  much  to  her  credit. 


/tFTER   THE  FOURTH  OF  SEPTEMBER.     229 

Camden  Place,  November  9,  1S70. 

Alas !  each  day  brings  some  new  disappointment,  and 
I  am  almost  discouraged  when  I  see  no  future  for  our 
poor  country.  To-day  I  am  told  that  the  negotiations  for 
the  armistice  are  broken  off;  I  admit  that  I  regret  this 
sincerely,  although,  for  us,  the  gathering  together  of  an 
assembly  can  only  be  the  ruin  of  our  hopes,  for  under  ex- 
isting circumstances  it  would  certainly  vote  for  dethrone- 
ment. But  my  desire  to  see  the  country  make  the  peace 
which  is  so  indispensable  for  it,  even  for  the  sake  of  the 
future,  dominates  every  other  feeling  with  me.  I  receive 
letters  from  different  parts  of  the  country  which  tell  me 
that  confusion  and  disorder  are  at  their  height.  I  fear 
that  the  terms  for  peace  will  become  more  and  more  diffi- 
cult in  proportion  to  their  efforts.  But  what  can  one  do, 
and  what  can  one  think,  when  one  sees  a  system  of  de- 
ception opposing  the  country,  and  trying  to  delude  it  and 
to  ruin  it?  I  am  very  sad,  and  I  scarcely  have  the  courage 
to  hope.  General  Changarnier  behaved  admirably  at 
Metz,  and  there  is  but  one  opinion  in  regard  to  him. 

If  I  were  at  the  Tuileries  I  should  not  hesitate  to 
write  and  tell  him  how  noble  he  appears  in  my  eyes.  But 
under  existing  circumstances  I  should  not  dare  to  do  so, 
for  I  am  afraid  that  my  conduct  would  be  misinterpreted. 

If  you  see  L ,  try  to  make  him  understand  how  wise 

it  would  be  not  to  insist,  in  Germany,  on  the  ceding  of 
territory  which  would  merely  engender  war  after  war. 
Moreover,  I  think  they  must  feel  that  they  have  under- 
taken a  difficult  task ;  but  conquerors  do  not  know  when 
to  stop ;  this  is  what  causes  their  ruin. 

Is  not  the  end  of  this  letter  both  affecting 
and  charming,  and  is  it  not  full  of  the  most 
exquisite  womanly  sentiment  .-*     The  "  If  I  were 


230  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

at  the  Tuileries,"  and  the  "I  should  not  dare  to 
do  it,"  are  they  not  masterpieces  of  dehcate 
feeling,  and  of  sad  but  gentle  hesitancy  on  the 
part  of  her  who  wrote  them  ? 

Surely  the  public  must  observe  a  difference 
between  this  note  and  the  gossip  of  the  salons 
reported  abroad,  and  certain  books,  especially 
published  with  promises  of  revelations  —  which 
revelations  are  really  nothing  but  a  compilation 
of  the  facts  given  from  day  to  day  by  the  news- 
papers of  the  time.  One  of  these  books  has  an 
entire  chapter  devoted  to  the  flight  of  the  Em- 
press on  the  Fourth  of  September.  The  ac- 
count is  altogether  imaginary.  The  Empress's 
letters  are  here  to  prove  it ;  besides,  a  statement 
from  M.  Magne  destroys  absolutely  the  romance 
which  is  there  given  in  detail. 

Verney  Montreux,  Pr^s  de  Vevay, 

Canton  de  Vaud,  October  12,  1870. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  after  the  scene  hi  the  cham- 
ber, I  hastened  to  the  Tuileries  to  offer  at  that  supreme 
moment  my  services  to  the  Empress  whom  I  had  left  at 
noon.  I  could  not  get  into  the  palace.  Several  of  my 
colleagues  were  also  prevented  from  entering. 

Since  that  time  I  have  had  no  news  except  what  I 
have  ascertained  from  the  papers. 

This  letter  corroborates  that  of  the  Empress. 
It  is  narrated  in  the  book  in  question,  that  the 


/tFTER   THE  FOURTH  OF  SEPTEMBER.      23 1 

ministers  and  the  deputies  had  an  audience  with 
the  Empress  after  the  usurpation  of  the  cham- 
ber, and  that  she  bade  them  good-bye. 

But  the  Empress  herself  declares  that  with 
the  exception  of  three,  who  insisted  on  her 
departure,  none  of  the  ministers  presented 
themselves,  and  M.  Magne  tells  us  that  the 
deputies  were  unable  to  effect  an  entrance  at 
the  Tuileries. 

It  is  thus  that  romance  alters  history. 

The  veracity  of  the  facts  which  I  offer  to  the 
public  being  sufficiently  established,  I  resume 
my  narrative. 

The  Empress,  I  have  said,  gives  evidence  in 
her  exile  of  high-minded  and  disinterested  senti- 
ments, of  sincere  grief  at  our  misfortunes,  and  of 
a  patriotism  which  is  incontestable.  She  does 
not  cease  to  think  of  the  country  she  has  left, 
and  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel  a  poet's  sympathy 
in  reading  the  letters  which  this  dethroned 
queen  writes  to  her  friends. 

A  poet  ?  Will  one  arise  to  sing  her  glory 
and  her  misfortunes  1 

Camden  Place,  December  10,  1S70. 

Le  Comte  G will  give  you,  in  the  name  of  the 

Prince  Imperial,  a  little  money  which  you  will  use  to  the 
best  advantage  for  our  wounded.  I  regret  sincerely  that 
I  am  not  rich  enough  to  help  their  need. 


232  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

The  Empress  watched  closely  the  state  of 
public  opinion,  and  noted  carefully  her  chances 
of  return,  as  the  number  of  her  partisans 
encouraged  or  warned  her. 

"  All  that  you  tell  me,"  she  writes,  "of  General  Chan- 
garnier"  [the  general  interested  her  and  attracted  her 
attention,  as  we  saw  in  the  preceding  chapter],  "  interests 
me  deeply;  but  I  think  he  is  decidedly  with  the  Orlean- 
ists.  I  regret  it,  for  he  would  assuredly  have  a  grander 
and  more  glorious  rdle  with  us !  .  .  .  See  if  we  must 
give  up  all  hope  of  having  him  with  us." 

"  I  think  an  assembly  must  necessarily  be  hostile,  be- 
cause I  do  not  believe,  at  this  juncture  of  things,  in  the 
liberty  of  the  vote  ;  and  yet  there  is  no  government  strong 
enough  to  sign  a  Treaty  of  Peace  on  the  conditions  which 
Prussia  will  necessarily  impose  upon  us." 

"  I  do  not  believe  in  the  prolongation  of  the  war  at 
present.  It  is  probable  that  a  new  sortie  will  be  attempted 
unless  the  acceptance  of  the  armistice  brings  peace." 

These  letters  are  curious  because  they  indi- 
cate the  moral  condition  of  things  at  Camden 
Place,  only  a  few  months  after  the  fall  of  the 
Empire.  Then  the  days  pass.  All  hope  of  re- 
turning to  France  must  be  given  up,  and  the 
exiles  resign  themselves  to  their  fate.  This 
resignation  is  not  without  bitterness ;  but  new 
events  occur  —  the  Commune  and  its  struggles 
—  which  do  not  allow  the  Empress  to  think  of 
herself. 


yiFTER   THE  FOURTH   OF  SEPTEMBER.      233 

Like  all  the  world,  she  suffered  from  that 
enervation  which  almost  accustoms  one  in  time 
to  horrible  deeds,  and  she  disserts  on  the  events 
that  happen,  on  the  responsibilities  assumed, 
and  on  court  politics,  with  a  calm  temper. 

CmsELHURST,  April  i\,  1871. 
The  news  from  Paris  is  very  sad.  Such  is  the  fruit  of 
personal  ambition.  .  .  .  Victorious  or  vanquished,  the 
government  will  have  the  responsibility  none  the  less. 
They  have  given  up  Paris  to  take  it  again,  but  at  what  a 
price !  .  .  .  They  left  the  arms  with  the  national  guard 
so  as  to  keep  a  fiilse  popularity ;  but  how  many  ruins  there 
are  to  disarm  them.  .  .  .  And,  whatever  is  the  result  of 
the  struggle,  the  government  had  in  itself  the  germ  of  its 
own  death.     Moreover,  we  are  fast  weari/tg  out. 

When  the  Empress  learned  of  the  destruction 
of  the  Vendome  column,  she  only  wrote  two 
lines,  but  they  are  very  characteristic. 

May  19. 

The  overthrow  of  the  Vendome  column  breaks  my 
heart.    It  is  worse  than  a  defeat ;  it  is  a  disgrace  for  us  all. 

We  are  fast  wearing  out.  This  phrase  is 
like  the  last  words  of  a  dying  man,  like  the  van- 
ishing impression  of  a  dream.  The  Empress 
shuts  herself  up  in  her  retreat  after  this,  and 
writes  little  or  nothing.  However,  two  years 
pass.  A  piece  of  news  is  spread  abroad.  It 
is  said  that  the  Comte  de  Chambord  is  com- 
ing back  to  France  to  reign.      Then  the  Em- 


234  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

press,  proverbially  fond  of  fun  —  the  Legitimist 
Empress  —  appears  again,  and  follows  almost 
anxiously  the  success  or  failure  of  the  future 
King. 

"Many  changes  have  taken  place,"  she  says,  under 
date  of  October  i8,  "  and  if  I  may  believe  the  newspapers, 
the  acceptance  of  Monsieur  le  Due  de  Chambord  is  an 
accomplished  fact ;  everything  seems  to  go  as  if  on 
wheels,  and  yet  I  think  it  is  impossible  that  the  country 
can  accept,  for  any  length  of  time,  what  is  done  outside 
of  it.  Monsieur  le  Comte  de  Chambord  is  nothing,  if  he 
accepts,  but  the  successor  of  Louis  Philippe.  One  cham- 
ber will  call  him,  another  will  defeat  him,  like  the  king 
Am^d^e.  The  great  principle  which  he  represents,  and 
which  places  him  outside  of  caprice  and  passion,  that 
divine  right,  so  much  talked  of,  amounts  to  nothing  to-day, 
and  he  will  only  be  the  chosen  one  of  the  assembly.  We 
know  where  concessions  lead.  .  .  .  The  way  is  shorter 
when  one  is  prodigal  of  one's  prestige.  ...  So  that  I 
refuse  to  believe  that  M.  le  Comte  de  Chambord  has  lost 
his  mind." 

The  last  lines  of  this  letter  are  an  allusion  to 
the  liberal  days  of  the  Empire,  and  a  direct  re- 
proach to  the  Emperor. 

The  Empress,  in  fact,  as  we  know,  was  very 
hostile  to  the  ministry  of  the  Second  of  January, 
she  was  very  imperious,  and  it  is  probable  that 
she  did  not  show  this  page  to  the  Emperor  be- 
fore sending  off  the  letter. 

All  the  strength  of  her  anti-liberal  views  is 


AFTER   THE  FOURTH  OF  SEPTEMBER.      235 

soon  revealed.  And  when  M.  le  Comte  de 
Chambord  declares  that  he  cannot  accept  the 
tricolour  flag  and  so  destroy  the  hopes  of  his 
friends,  she  does  not  conceal  her  satisfaction. 

"What  do  you  say  of  the  letter  of  M.  le  Comte  de 
Chambord?  "  she  asks  from  Chiselhurst.  "  I  knew  very 
well  he  would  not  give  up  his  principles  or  his  flag." 

And  she  adds  :  — 

"  His  letter  is  very  noble." 

At  the  time  these  different  letters  were  writ- 
ten,  the  Empress  liked  to  keep  up  relations  with 
her  former  faithful  friends.  She  wrote  to  them 
occasionally,  as  her  disappointment  grew  less, 
attractive  notes  relating  to  men,  politics,  and 
affairs  in  general.  Speaking  of  M.  Magne,  min- 
ister of  finance  under  M.  Thiers,  she  expresses 
herself  thus,  in  a  language  which  seems  to  indi- 
cate a  perfect  peace  of  mind  :  — 

"  I  have  just  read  the  report  of  the  minister  of  finance. 
I  cannot  conceal  a  feeling  of  pride  in  reading  this  remark- 
able work,  for  it  is  a  former  minister  of  the  Empire 
who  deserves  the  credit  of  it.  It  is  remarkable  for  its 
lucidity  and  simplicity.  1  am  no  longer  accustomed  to 
find  my  way  by  myself  among  figures.  M.  Magne  has  the 
talent  of  making  even  the  ignorant,  like  myself,  think  they 
are  financiers." 

This  is  kind.  But  since  these  days  when 
the  Empress  relived  with  those  she  loved  the 


236  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

far  distant  years,  she  has  undergone  a  met- 
amorphosis, A  double  grief  has  overwhelmed 
her,  and  she  has  broken  all  her  ties  with  the 
past. 

Visiting  Rome  shortly  before  the  death  of  her 
son,  she  refrained  from  going  to  the  Quirinal, 
and  so  influenced  her  son  that  he  could  not  re- 
sist her  will.  This  was  a  mistake.  It  was  also 
a  mistake,  perhaps,  to  have  alienated  her  former 
friends.  But  what  difference  does  it  make  to 
her  to-day }  She  walks  as  in  a  dream,  in  the 
overwhelming  apotheosis  of  a  crumbling  dynasty, 
in  the  supreme  dissolution  of  all  that  was  "  she," 
in  the  ecstatic  renunciation  of  all  that  made  her 
happy,  in  indifference,  even  to  that  English  hos- 
pitality which  twice  was  fatal  to  the  Napoleons. 


XL 

THE    RESTORATION    OF    THE    EMPIRE    IN 
187O-I87I. 

I  HAVE  just  quoted  from  some  letters  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  dated  1873,  three  years  after 
her  dethronement. 

I  have  shown  that  the  Empress,  moved  by  a 
generous  sentiment,  forgot  for  a  moment  her 
pretensions  to  the  dynasty,  her  hope  of  return- 
ing to  France,  in  the  absorbing  thought  of  what 
was  best  for  the  country.  However,  this  renun- 
ciation was  of  short  duration,  and  very  soon  with 
her,  as  with  the  Emperor,  —  a  prisoner  at  Wil- 
helmshohe,  —  the  desire  to  see  the  Tuileries 
again,  to  return  to  power,  began  to  germinate. 
Suffering  from  the  terrible  shock  of  tragic 
events,  and  pursued  by  the  succession  of  accu- 
mulated disasters,  the  Empress,  overcome  by 
anxiety  and  suspense,  succumbed  to  prostration. 
But  as  the  inevitable  sequence  of  events  un- 
folded, and  she  gradually  grew  accustomed  to  the 
new,  strange  condition  of  affairs,  she  regained 
consciousness  of  herself  and  her  surroundings. 
Like  one  who  has  fainted  and  revives,  she  soon 
237 


238  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

learned  to  face  things  as  they  were  with  less  dis- 
may, and,  possibly,  to  link  the  broken  and  inglo- 
rious past  with  the  uncertain  future. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  thought  of  an 
Imperial  restoration,  in  the  near  future,  took  pos- 
session of  her.  The  Emperor,  in  spite  of  the 
revolution  and  of  the  maledictions  which  his 
name  had  repeatedly  provoked,  did  not  hesitate 
to  believe  that  he  could  again  enter  Paris,  re- 
establish order,  and  institute  his  government 
once  more.  Consequently,  the  principal  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Bonapartist  party  were  notified 
to  be  in  readiness  to  obey  their  former  sover- 
eigns. This  project  of  an  Imperial  restoration, 
as  early  as  1870  and  1871,  brought  about  by  an 
inexplicable  evolution  of  circumstances,  has  re- 
mained unknown  to  this  day,  not  only  to  the 
public,  but  to  most  of  those  who  took  part  in 
politics  before  and  after  the  war.  I  shall  now 
publish  in  detail  the  facts  concerning  this  move- 
ment. 

When  it  had  been  decided,  by  the  Emperor 
and  by  the  Empress,  that  a  restoration  of  the 
Empire  would  be  attempted,  they  proceeded  at 
once  to  reorganise  the  Bonapartist  forces,  and 
Napoleon  III.  put  himself  in  communication 
with  his  former  friends,  noted  for  their  energy. 

The    Emperor   summoned   to   Wilhelmshohe 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.      239 

several  of  his  partisans,  to  whom  he  gave  full 
directions  ;  emissaries  were  sent  in  almost  every 
direction  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  together, 
in  direct  and  uninterrupted  play,  the  different 
centres  of  action.  When  everything  was  ready 
for  concerted  action,  all  that  remained  to  be 
done  was  to  choose  a  place  for  the  headquarters 
of  this  political  campaign,  where  they  would  be 
free  to  act  and  carry  their  plans  into  execution. 

By  common  consent,  the  entire  French  terri- 
tory was  ruled  out,  as  offering  no  safety ;  Lon- 
don, considered  for  a  moment,  was  also  given  up 
on  account  of  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered 
in  crossing  the  channel.  One  town  seemed 
to  all  the  "  conspirators "  almost  miraculously 
satisfactory  in  all  respects.  This  was  Brus- 
sels, which  they  finally  decided  on  as  their 
rendezvous. 

It  was  then  November,  1870,  so  that  it  will 
be  evident  they  had  lost  no  time.  It  would  also 
appear,  while  we  do  not  wish  to  condemn  her 
for  it,  that  the  Empress  had  been  inconsistent, 
though  sincere,  when  she  had  written  that  she 
was  willing  to  sacrifice  her  claim  to  the  throne 
for  the  good  of  the  country.  She  said  this  in 
good  faith,  I  am  sure  ;  and  I  think  that,  in  her 
fits  of  despondency,  she  often  fought  against 
any  thought  of  returning  to  France.     But,  true 


240  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

to  her  impulsive  nature,  wrought  upon  by  the 
excitement  of  the  possibility  of  a  return,  her 
sympathy  went  out  to  the  Emperor,  and  encour- 
aged him  in  the  undertaking  which  was  fated  to 
be  almost  still-born. 

The  aspect  of  Brussels  in  1870,  after  the 
Fourth  of  September,  was  both  interesting  and 
melancholy.  It  was  like  a  camp,  where  a  crowd 
from  every  quarter  gathered,  especially  from 
France.  Numbers  of  the  former  friends  of  the 
Empire  had  come  together,  and  one  could  have 
said  that  the  Imperial  court  presided  here. 

The  Hotel  of  Flanders,  especially,  sheltered 
many  important  personages  of  the  Bonapartist 
party,  and  it  was  here  that  the  salon  was  opened 
where  the  counsellors  of  the  Emperor  were  to 
assemble,  where  the  plan  of  the  return  to  the 
Tuileries  was  to  be  developed. 

Mar^chal  MacMahon,  his  mother,  the  Du- 
chesse  de  Castries,  his  sister,  the  Comtesse  de 
Beaumont,  M.  Teschard,  the  French  minister 
in  Brussels  accredited  by  the  government  of 
National  Defence,  Mar6chal  Canrobert,  Gen- 
eral Changarnier,  the  Due  d'Albuferra,  General 
de  Montebello,  General  Fleury,  M.  Levert,  and 
others  too  numerous  to  mention,  met  in  the 
salon  already  referred  to,  over  whom  one  of  the 
most    illustrious    worldly  and    political    women 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.      24I 

of  the  Second  Empire  presided,  —  the  Comtesse 
X . 

I  have  just  mentioned  M.  Teschard,  and  have 
said  he  was  a  frequenter  of  the  salon  of  the 
Hotel  of  Flanders.  My  meaning  may  be  mis- 
understood. M.  Teschard,  while  mingling  with 
a  society  not  in  sympathy  with  the  government 
which  he  represented,  was  not  guilty  of  treason. 
The  French  Minister  was  almost  buried  in  that 
cosmopolitan  town  in  1870,  and  it  was  most  nat- 
ural that  he  should  seek,  as  a  private  citizen,  the 
society  of  his  compatriots  who  happened  to  be 
there.  With  a  gifted  and  talented  mind,  very 
intelligent  and  sociable,  he  was  agreeable  to  his 
political  enemies,  as  they  were  to  him  —  his  ene- 
mies being  Frenchmen.  He  was  married,  and 
his  wife  was  a  German,  so  that  he  chose,  I  think, 
after  the  war,  his  wife's  nationality,  family  inter- 
ests detaining  him  in  Alsace. 

This  intimacy  caused  him  to  be  reprimanded 
by  Gambetta,  who  asked  him  one  day,  "  What 
he  found  to  interest  him  among  these  charm- 
ers ?  "  These  words  in  the  mouth  of  the  Trib- 
une, —  used  to  characterise  the  men  and  women 
of  the  Empire  —  are  they  not  symbolical } 

One  of  these  "  charmers  "  had  a  talk  with 
Gambetta,  some  time  after  his  nomination  as 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and  as  past  events 


242  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

were  the  subject  of  conversation,  the  Tribune 
suddenly  opened  a  drawer,  and  turning  to  his 
interlocutor,  said,  — 

"  Do  you  see  this  drawer  ?  It  is  full  of  letters, 
dispatches,  papers  of  all  kinds  relating  to  poli- 
tics. Well,  the  more  I  read  and  re-read  all 
these,  I  am  convinced  that  much  that  the  Em- 
peror is  condemned  for,  he  was  justified  in  doing. 
When  one  has  only  to  oppose,  when  one  does 
not  have  to  weigh  the  tremendous  problems  of  a 
government,  when,  in  short,  one  is  ignorant  of 
the  ins  and  outs  of  things,  everything  seems  so 
easy  and  is  so  open  to  criticism.  But  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  confess  to  you  that  I  think  that  man 
is  wrong  who  blames  too  systematically  his 
enemy.  Only  those  who  have  never  had  their 
shoulder  to  the  wheel  would  dare  to  do  it ;  I 
have  been  of  those  and  I  regret  it." 

In  the  beginning,  during  the  first  hours  of 
his  captivity,  suffering  from  the  prostration 
which  follows  a  great  shock,  the  Emperor 
seemed  to  lose  hold  of  all  that  had  pertained  to 
his  position,  and  to  accept  his  fate  with  resigna- 
tion. 

Replying  to  one  of  his  faithful  friends,  who 
had  questioned  him  regarding  his  intentions,  he 
did  not  conceal  his  despondency,  and  with  a 
lamentable  laconism,  put  an  end  to  any  desire 
for  restoration. 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.      243 

'*  I  thank  you  for  your  letter,  which  gave  me  great  pleas- 
ure," he  says  under  date  of  September  28,  1870,  from 
Wilhelmshohe ;  "the  sentiments  which  you  express  do 
not  surprise  me,  for  I  have  always  been  sure  of  your  friend- 
ship. Under  existing  circumstances,  it  seems  to  me  there 
is  nothing  to  do  but  to  rectify  through  the  press,  as  far  as 
possible,  any  erroneous  statements,  and  to  influence,  as 
far  as  possible,  public  opinion.  Conti,  whom  you  perhaps 
saw  at  Brussels  (he  lives  at  No.  2  Place  du  Trone),  is 
very  useful  to  me  in  this  way.  God  grant  that  the  siege 
of  Paris  will  soon  be  over ;  for  I  fear  all  kinds  of  abuses 
on  the  outskirts." 

On  the  other  hand,  all  the  friends  of  Napo- 
leon III.  were  not,  at  this  time,  agreed  on  the 
Imperialist  movement,  and  M.  Magne  among 
others,  on  being  consulted,  did  not  hesitate  to 
dissuade  them  from  the  attempt  at  restoration. 

Here  is  his  letter  :  — 

Verney  Montreux,  Pr^s  de  Vevay, 

Canton  de  Vaud,  Suisse,  October  12,  1870. 

I  have  already  written  to  you ;  I  fear  that  my  letter  has 
not  reached  you.  May  this  one,  which  I  will  register,  be 
more  fortunate.  The  mail  is  so  disturbed  that  correspon- 
dence by  balloon  would  be  as  regular  as  that  by  the  rail- 
road. 

I  am  in  Switzerland  with  my  wife,  my  daughter-in- 
law,  and  my  grandchildren.  I  came  here  by  accident  on 
my  way  from  Aix.  I  am  advised  to  remain  here  until  after 
the  elections.  I  have  been  told  that  my  presence,  during 
that  transaction,  might  embarrass  my  friends  who  have 
decided  not  to  vote  for  me,  which,  moreover,  I  had  no 
right  to  expect  they  would. 


244  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

The  elections  having  been  indefinitely  postponed,  I 
intend,  unless  something  unexpected  prevents  me,  soon  to 
go  to  Montaigue  ;  I  expect  to  end  my  life  there  as  I  began 
it,  that  is  to  say,  in  a  state  of  mediocrity,  only  retaining 
the  memory  of  men  and  things  and  the  consciousness  of 
always  having  done  my  duty ;  very  happy  if  I  find  there 
the  friends  of  my  youth  and  a  few  of  those  that  pros- 
perity brought  to  me.  I  would  only  regret  the  loss  of 
these  things. 

One  word,  now,  in  regard  to  politics. 

Many  false  rumors  and  erroneous  interpretations  of 
past  events  are  being  spread  abroad  and  profited  by. 
We  should  spend  our  time  trying  to  rectify  them ;  on  the 
other  hand  all  attempt  at  construction  seems  to  me  foolish 
and  dangerous.  In  the  midst  of  the  disasters  of  war,  of 
which  all  are  more  or  less  the  victims  and  which  the  Em- 
pire is  held  responsible  for,  people's  minds  are  excited 
and  angry.  All  appearance  of  wishing  to  go  back  will 
only  increase  this  feeling.  If  I  may  judge  by  the  informa- 
tion which  has  come  to  me,  and  which  you  also  must  have 
received,  this  is  the  state  of  public  opinion. 

Moreover,  public  attention  is  almost  exclusively  bent 
in  the  direction  of  National  Defence.  In  taking  this  name, 
the  provisional  government  has  been  inspired.  It  rallied 
an  assemblage  of  all  parties,  who  forgot  their  origin  in 
their  common  end.  God  grant,  for  the  good  of  the  coun- 
try, that  the  same  unity  may  preside  at  the  formation  of 
a  permanent  government. 

But  how  dark  is  the  horizon  !  How  uncertain  the 
future !  Without  despairing  of  France,  which  cannot 
entirely  perish,  he  is  very  bold  who  dares  to  predict  or  to 
conjecture,  or  who,  as  I  have  just  done  in  my  letter, 
makes  plans  for  the  present  or  future. 

M.    Magne,  it  is  quite  evident,  was  entirely 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.      245 

opposed  to  any  attempt  towards  the  restoration 
of  the  Empire,  and  when,  in  November,  a  month 
after  writing  this  letter,  he  was  again  consulted, 
he  made  the  same  answer. 

ChAlet  du  Grand  Hotel  de  Vevay, 

A  Vevay,  November  18,  1870. 

This  unfortunate  war  disturbs  everything,  ruins 
everything  everywhere  for  the  present,  and  for  a  long 
future.  I  am  as  profoundly  sad  and  discouraged  as  you 
are.  I  see  nothing  for  our  unfortunate  country  but  an  in- 
definite succession  of  calamities.  I  understand  the  indig- 
nation of  the  public  against  those  whom  they  accuse  of 
bringing  about  this  state  of  things,  only  I  think  they  are 
more  and  more  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  real  causes, 
which  are  innumerable.  The  division  of  responsibility, 
when  it  can  be  done  in  cold  blood  and  with  perfect  free- 
dom, will  surprise  more  than  one,  I  am  convinced.  While 
waiting,  I  do  not  understand  the  report  which  I  hear,  of 
an  attempted  reactionary  plot ;  to  my  mind,  as  I  have 
already  told  you,  this  would  be  folly.  No  one  can  tell 
what  the  future  holds  for  us.  But,  at  this  moment,  the 
only  choice  is  between  a  modified  republic,  or  a  republic 
h  In  Robespierre. 

That  good  results  from  excess  of  evil  is  a  maxim  which 
has  always  seemed  to  me  unpatriotic  and  dangerous. 
Therefore,  I  learn  with  great  satisfaction  the  attitude  of 
Paris  and  of  Marseilles  against  the  Reds,  even  though 
the  provisional  government,  notwithstanding  its  origin, 
should  be  strengthened  for  some  time  by  it. 

Only  I  fear  these  attempts  will  be  renewed,  will  ex- 
tend, will  weary  and  frighten  the  honest  people,  who  will 
end  by  letting  them  do  as  they  have  done  in  the  past  — 
each  one  shielding  himself  by  his  weakness. 

A   socialistic  club   has   decided   that   the   street   that 


246  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

bears  my  name  shall  be  named  anew,  that  my  property 
shall  be  confiscated  and  sold,  and  that  the  first  comer  may 
and  even  shall  be  required  to  shoot  me.  It  is  true  that  the 
mass  of  the  populace  are  indignant,  and  protest  and  prom- 
ise to  re-establish  immediately  my  name  if  it  is  removed ; 
it  is  also  true  that  the  patriots  who  made  these  threats 
have  not  dared  to  stir  as  yet.  But  they  cannot  be 
trusted.  In  any  case,  this  fact  concerning  one  who  has 
in  the  town  many  in  his  debt,  in  every  class,  and  not  one 
personal  enemy  even  amongst  his  opponents,  is  a  very 
significant  symptom,  and  certainly  not  reassuring. 

We  were  about  to  start,  in  fact,  when  we  learned  of 
the  catastrophe  at  Metz,  of  the  furious  agitation  in  the 
towns  of  the  south  through  which  we  had  to  pass,  and  the 
invitation  given  to  Forcade  and  others  to  leave  the  city 
of  Bordeaux,  my  adjoining  town ;  I  did  not  expect  to  be 
better  treated,  notwithstanding  a  bona  fide  passport  that 
your  friend,  M.  Groffray,  had  been  kind  enough  to  send 
me  by  our  resident  at  Berne. 

The  surrender  of  Metz,  so  deplorable  in  itself,  gave 
rise  to  a  very  distressing  spectacle,  that  of  the  soldiers, 
officers,  generals,  accusing  each  other,  and  uniting  in 
denouncing  their  commander. 

Silence,  sometimes  so  plausible  and  successful,  is  not 
always  the  best  way  of  defending  one's  self.  I  am  impa- 
tient to  see  a  justification  of  the  Mar^chal  more  peremp- 
tory than  that  which  he  gives  in  his  short  letter.  He  is 
not  the  only  one  interested. 

Have  you  read  the  decrees  found  at  the  Tuileries,  and 
by  means  of  which  Rouher  and  Lavalette  had  obtained 
from  the  Emperor  the  order  for  my  dismissal  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  private  council?  You  know  that  I  had  a 
presentiment  of  it  based  on  my  knowledge  of  their  sen- 
timents and  of  those  of  the  Empress. 


THE  RESTORATION  OF   THE  EMPIRE.      247 

Such  are  these  two  interesting  letters,  to 
different  people,  written  by  M.  Magne  on  the 
subject  under  consideration.  Notwithstanding 
the  advice  which  they  unquestionably  give,  it  is 
from  this  month  of  November,  1870,  that  the 
definite  resolve  to  reinstate  Napoleon  III.  on 
the  throne  dates,  and  that  the  Empress  and 
Emperor  themselves  direct  the  movement  on 
which  they  have  set  their  hopes. 

One  man  —  General  Changarnier  —  being, 
as  I  have  said,  at  Brussels,  was  strongly  urged 
by  the  Imperialists  to  join  their  ranks  ;  the 
Emperor  himself,  and  the  Empress  and  her 
suite,  made  every  effort  to  persuade  him  ;  and 
the  General  came  very  near  playing  the  rdle  of  a 
Monk. 

General  Changarnier  went  every  day  at  three 
o'clock  to  the  Hotel  de  Flandres,  and  so  kept  him- 
self in  touch  with  the  leaders  of  the  Bonapartist 
movement.  His  recent  interview,  in  France, 
with  the  Emperor,  had  not  weakened  his  mo- 
narchical convictions ;  and  at  that  time  he  held 
ardent  legitimist  views.  According  to  him,  the 
Comte  de  Chambord  alone  was  capable  of  re- 
storing calm  and  prosperity  to  the  country ;  and 
deeply  convinced  that  the  King  would  accept 
the  tricolour  flag,  he  was  devoting  himself  to  his 
cause. 


248  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

However,  tormented  by  the  partisans  of  Impe- 
rialist restoration,  by  General  Fleury  among 
others,  who  came  to  Brussels  to  see  him,  fur- 
nished with  private  instructions  from  Napoleon 
III.,  he  soon  became  imbued  with  the  opinions 
of  those  with  whom  he  associated ;  and  after 
having  proposed  to  take  the  Regency  with  the 
Prince  Imperial,  thus  excluding  the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress,  he  waited  for  more  formal 
overtures. 

These  overtures  not  being  forthcoming,  he 
returned  to  his  former  convictions,  and  became 
again  a  royalist. 

The  letter  by  which  Napoleon  III.  put  him- 
self directly  in  contact  at  Brussels  with  Gen- 
eral Changarnier  was  written  on  the  subject  of 
Marechal  Bazaine,  and  at  the  beginning  of  that 
conspiracy,  which  was  doomed  never  to  fulfil 
itself. 

The  following  lines  reveal  it  to  us,  and  at  the 
same  time  show  us  in  what  ignorance  of  events 
the  Emperor  was  kept  at  this  time  :  — 

VVlLHELMSHOHE,  November  16,  1870. 

However,  at  Brussels  you  must  see  many  people,  and 
learn  many  things  of  which  we  are  ignorant  here.  I  wish 
from  time  to  time  you  would  let  me  know  your  impressions 
of  what  you  hear  said,  and  what  you  hope  or  fear  for  the 
future. 

I  am  told  that  you  often  see  our  enemies.     If  this  is  to 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.      249 

win  them  over,  so  much  the  better.  But  I  fear  their  bad 
influence.  Already  Bourbal<i  and  Mardchal  Canrobert 
have  been  circumvented  by  them.  If  you  see  General 
Changarnier,  ask  him  to  write  a  word  to  the  papers  in 
favor  of  Bazaine.  I  have  already  advised  him  to  do  this, 
but  he  wrote  me  that  the  editor  of  Z'  Independence  Bel^e 
did  not  publish  his  letter,  and  when  he  asked  the  reason 
why,  he  was  told  that  if  they  published  his  letter,  they 
would  accompany  it  by  unkind  reflections  on  Bazaine ; 
so  he  had  to  withdraw  it.  I  regret  this  ;  for  anything  said 
by  Changarnier  would  be  much  talked  of,  whereas  injuri- 
ous remarks  of  the  editor  would  have  passed  unnoticed. 
Try  to  make  him  change  his  mind. 

Several  weeks  later  the  Emperor  became 
categorical  on  the  subject  of  General  Changar- 
nier ;  and  as  at  that  time  the  organisation  of  the 
Imperialist  plot  was  accomplished,  he  tried  to 
make  it  favourable  to  him  at  any  cost. 

W.,  December  11, 
This  letter  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  M.  Levert,  for- 
merly a  prefect  of  Marseilles,  a  most  devoted  and  distin- 
guished man.  He  will  talk  with  you  of  the  measures  to 
be  adopted  in  regard  to  General  Ciiangarnier,  so  as  to 
keep  him  true  to  our  cause.  I  beg  of  you  to  arrange  an 
interview  for  him  with  the  General. 

The  General,  as  I  have  said,  weakened  every 
day  before  these  solicitations,  and  another  letter 
issued  from  the  Emperor,  demonstrating  the 
importance  of  his  allegiance  and  his  interest  in 
promoting  the  success  of  their  proposed  plan  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Bonapartists. 


250  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

\V.,  December  23,  1870. 

I  thank  you  for  the  satisfactory  relations  which  you 
maintain  with  General  Changarnier.  You  must  keep  his 
goodwill  by  telling  him  that  when  the  right  moment 
comes  I  will  need  his  advice.  From  what  1  hear,  Clare- 
mont  lias  said  that  Paris  cannot  hold  out  more  than  three 
weeks.     What  will  happen  then? 

The  position  taken  by  certain  French  officers  in 
Germany  is  very  bad ;  but  they  are  influenced  by  emis- 
saries of  many  different  colours. 

It  would  seem  that  for  a  moment  General 
Changarnier  was  the  pivotal  point  of  the  Im- 
perialist restoration,  the  point  around  which  re- 
volved all  the  arguments,  all  the  charm,  all  the 
dignitaries,  of  the  party. 

He  had  been  promised  the  Mar^chalat,  should 
the  Empire  be  re-established ;  and  for  a  time  it 
was  believed  that  he  would  resolutely  give  his 
name  and  his  influence  to  the  service  of  the 
Imperialist  cause. 

But  he  became  obstinate  in  his  idea  of  the 
Regency  and  in  making  it  conditional  on  the 
absence  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress ;  and 
the  situation  dragged  along  in  this  way,  with 
useless  discussions,  up  to  the  time  when,  the 
preliminaries  of  peace  having  been  signed,  the 
country  was  called  upon  to  elect  deputies  for 
the  National  Assembly,  to  ratify  these  prelimi- 
naries and  to  make  them  definite. 


THE  RESTORATION  OF   THE  EMPIRE.      2$  I 

From  the  first  of  January,  1871,  the  Bona- 
partist  conspiracy  became  disintegrated,  and 
Napoleon  III.  himself  was  overtaken  by  an 
inertia  which  undermined  his  courage  and 
energy. 

"  Unfortunately  you  are  not  better  informed  at  Brussels 
than  we  are  here  in  regard  to  future  events,"  he  writes, 
under  date  of  January  4th.  "  One  scarcely  knows  what 
to  think  of  the  differences  of  opinion  one  hears  expressed 
in  regard  to  the  probable  endurance  of  Paris.  Everybody 
wants  peace,  but  no  one  knows  how  it  can  be  obtained." 

After  the  8th  of  February,  when  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  turned  toward  Bor- 
deaux, General  Changarnier  hastened  to  rejoin 
several  friends  in  that  town.  Here  he  saw  M. 
Thiers ;  by  his  own  confession  he  sounded  him 
on  the  subject  of  restoration  —  no  longer  Im- 
perialist, but  monarchical  —  and  having  been 
assured  that  the  shrewd  little  man  had  no  desire 
to  play  the  game  of  princes,  he  came  back  to 
Brussels,  and  entirely  severed  his  connection 
with  his  former  allies. 

From  this  time  the  Bonapartist  camp  was 
completely  demoralised.  To  the  natural  diffi- 
culties which  such  an  enterprise  as  the  res- 
toration of  the  Empire  presented,  was  added 
discord  and  enmities  which  rendered  this  at- 
tempt impracticable. 


252  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

A  lack  of  cohesion  broke  up  the  different 
groups,  and  the  salojt  of  the  Hotel  of  Flanders 
was  deserted.  Some  among  the  Imperialists 
wished  for  the  Empire  with  the  Emperor,  that 
is  to  say,  the  Empire  as  it  was  ;  whereas  others 
seemed  disposed  to  rally  around  a  Regent,  with 
the  Prince  Imperial. 

Disorder  resulted  from  this  condition  of 
things,  and  very  soon,  the  National  Assembly 
having  become  an  almost  insurmountable  ob- 
stacle to  the  realisation  of  the  projects  of  the 
Imperial  partisans,  each  one,  to  use  a  familiar 
expression,  went  his  way  and  gave  up  his 
dream. 

M.  Thiers  was  one  of  those  who  knew  of  these 
facts,  and  some  time  after  the  failure  of  the  Im- 
perialist plot,  being  in  Versailles,  as  head  of  the 
executive  department,  he  had  a  curious  conver- 
sation on  this  subject  with  one  of  the  faithful 
members  of  the  salon  of  the  Hotel  of  Flanders, 
The  person  I  have  just  alluded  to,  having  called 
on  him  to  ask  him  to  return  to  the  Empress 
some  articles  belonging  to  her,  M.  Thiers  ap- 
peared very  anxious  to  comply  with  the  request 
of  his  former  sovereign,  and  gave  orders  that 
it  be  at  once  carried  out.  This  was  the  first 
time  since  the  war  that  the  chief  executive 
found   himself   in  the   presence  of  an  intimate 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.       253 

friend  of  the  Imperial  family,  and  curiosity  led 
him  to  question  him.  He  showed  him  every 
attention,  and  tried  to  ingratiate  himself-  with 
him,  and  finally  asked  the  following  question, 
which  led  to  a  conversation  both  interesting  and 
historical  :  — 

"  What  do  foreigners  say  of  us  ?  " 

"  Many  bad  things,  M.  le  President.  We  are 
not  looked  upon  with  favour  by  foreigners,  and 
they  are  especially  afraid  of  your  Republic !  " 

"  My  Republic,  my  Republic  .  .  Nevertheless, 
it  is  the  only  possible  government  in  France." 

"  So  you  say,  M.  le  President.  But  how  can 
you  expect  monarchical  governments  to  look  with 
indifference  on  such  a  government  established  as 
their  neighbour.  It  is  said  in  Brussels,  by  those 
surrounding  the  King,  that  Republicanism  is  a 
contagious  disease,  which  should  be  guarded 
against  by  imposing  a  quarantine  to  protect 
those  who  have  not  died  from  it." 

M,  Thiers  laughed, 

"  The  European  cabinets  are  not  reasonable," 
he  replied  ;  "  are  they  not  aware  of  the  number 
of  different  parties  among  us  who  are  strug- 
gling for  power }  And  do  they  think  that  a 
return  to  past  traditions  would  serve  the  best 
interests  of  France  to-day  better  than  a  for- 
ward march  in  the  direction  of  progress  1     No  ; 


254  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

those  people  are  either  ignorant  or  foolish,  and 
we  are  more  experienced  and  wiser  than  they. 
Emperors  and  kings  seem  to  me  to  have  had 
their  day  with  us.  A  good  Republic  will  take 
their  place,  and  will  know  better  than  they  how 
to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  nation." 

Then,  walking  up  and  down  the  room,  he 
planted  himself,  with  his  arms  crossed,  directly 
in  front  of  his  companion. 

"  See  here,  my  friend,"  he  exclaimed  in  his 
shrill  voice,  "  you  think  exactly  as  I  do.  Were 
you  not  recently  one  of  the  heads  of  the  con- 
spiracy which  had  as  its  end  to  restore  the  Em- 
pire .''  What  has  become  of  that  conspiracy  ? 
Where  are  all  your  fine  plans .?  You  were  not 
even  able  to  agree  among  yourselves  ;  and  Gen- 
eral Changarnier,  whom  you  wished  to  bribe, 
would  not  even  listen  to  you." 

"  Pardon  me,  M.  le  President,  General  Chan- 
garnier was  for  about  two  months  as  much  of  a 
Bonapartist  as  I,  who  will  always  remain  one. 
He  was  even,  for  a  time,  Regent  and  future 
Mar6chal  of  P'rance." 

"  Oh ! " 

"  Such  are  the  facts." 

"Well,  that  proves  nothing.  Changarnier  is 
a  brave  soldier,  but  a  regular  old  woman,  with 
narrow  views  and  Imperial  methods,  who  knows 


THE  RESTORATION  OF   THE  EMPIRE.       255 

nothing  of  business.  I  have  been  told  that  he 
has  been  a  legitimist !  And  now  he  has  gone 
over  to  the  Orleanists  ! " 

"  But  you  yourself,  my  dear  President "  — 

"  I  have  already  told  you  that  I  only  want  a 
Republic.  The  Orleanists  are  no  more  possible 
in  France  than  the  Emperor  or  the  Comte  de 
Chambord." 

Then  he  became  thoughtful. 

"  Yes,  the  Orleanists  might  have  had  a  chance 
to  reign.  But  they  have  been  guilty  of  so  many 
follies,  that  they  are  either  unpopular,  or  have 
no  prestige.  They  have  caused  themselves  to 
be  elected  deputies,  they  have  conjointly  with 
the  Germans  claimed  money  from  France. 
They  no  longer  count." 

M.  Thiers,  at  this  point,  remained  silent  for  a 
moment.  But  resuming  the  conversation,  and 
placing  his  hand  on  his  visitor's  shoulder  in  a 
friendly  manner  :  — 

"I  repeat,"  he  rejoined,  "that  the  Republic 
will  live  a  long  time  in  France."  "  But,  since  I 
must  reveal  to  you  all  my  mind,  I  am  of  opinion 
that,  notwithstanding  the  disasters  which  it  has 
caused,  the  Empire  alone  might,  in  the  absence 
of  the  Republic,  be  accepted  by  the  country. 
The  Bonapartists,  in  fact,  have  come  to  an  end ; 
but  if,  in  a  distant  future,  the  people  return  to  a 


256  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

dynasty,  that  dynasty  will  be  theirs.  We  will 
not  see  it,  but  perhaps  our  grandchildren  will ; 
the  Napoleons  are  democrats,  and  their  name 
cannot  be  forgotten." 

Then,  shaking  his  head,  he  added :  — 

**  But  no.  To-day  the  people  want  a  Repub- 
lic ;  a  Republic  suits  them  best.  It  is  popular, 
in  spite  of  the  National  Assembly ;  it  becomes 
more  popular  every  day ;  and,  as  it  increases  in 
strength,  the  parties  will  not  have  power  enough, 
even  in  their  coalition,  to  overthrow  or  destroy 
it.  It  is  the  only  form  of  government  that  can 
effect  the  calm  so  much  needed  by  the  country, 
and  which  alone  can  inspire  the  confidence  of 
our  neighbours ;  for  it  is  not  belligerent,  but 
peaceably  inclined.  When  you  go  back,  you 
can  repeat  what  I  have  said.  I  authorise  you 
to  do  so.  Say  that  you  have  seen  me,  that  I 
have  talked  with  you ;  and  I  will  be  grateful  to 
you  for  the  assistance  which  you  can  thus  give 
me,  in  exchange  for  the  small  service  which  I 
shall  render  to  you,  or,  rather,  to  the  Empress 
whose  envoy  you  are." 

And  he  added  :  — 

"  If  God  spares  my  life,  I  shall  make  this  Re- 
public much  beloved,  and  I  hope  by  means  of  it 
to  accomplish  great  things." 

Man  proposes,  and  .  .  .  assemblies    dispose! 


THE  RESTORATION  OF   THE  EMPIRE.      257 

The  24th  of  May  saw  the  fall  of  M.  Thiers,  as 
January,  1871,  had  seen  that  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire, Historians  will  tell  whether  M.  Thiers, 
while  in  power,  accomplished  any  of  the  great 
things  he  projected.  However  this  may  be,  we 
must  acknowledge  that  he  had  foresight,  that  he 
had  a  clear  prevision  of  events  that  came  to 
pass,  and,  above  all,  that  the  Republic,  which  he 
loved  with  a  selfish  and  senile  love,  —  as  a  man 
loves  the  child  of  his  old  age,  —  has  taken  pos- 
session of  the  country ;  and,  under  its  rule, 
France,  free,  prosperous,  young,  and  strong, 
marches  towards  peace  and  towards  progress. 


XII. 

THE    EMPRESS    AND    THE    PRINCE    IMPERIAL. 

When  peace  had  been  declared  with  Ger- 
many, and  the  Commune  had  been  subdued, 
and  when  the  National  Assembly,  leaving  Bor- 
deaux, sat  at  Versailles,  the  hope  of  a  return  to 
France,  even  at  a  distant  date,  was  no  longer 
entertained  by  the  Emperor  or  Empress,  and 
their  exile  from  that  moment  was  absolute. 

Napoleon  III.  now  devoted  himself  entirely 
to  the  education  of  his  son  ;  and,  as  long  as 
his  father  lived,  the  Prince  was  happy.  But 
this  happiness  was  doomed  to  be  of  short  dura- 
tion. Shortly  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
dissensions  arose  between  his  mother  and 
himself.  The  young  man,  short  of  money, 
urged  the  Empress  and  M.  Rouher  to  turn  over 
to  him  their  accounts  as  guardians ;  but  they 
refused  to  grant  his  request,  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  come  to  his  mother  for  the  satisfaction 
of  his  wants. 

The  Prince  had  the  law  on  his  side,  and  he 
could  have  obliged  his  mother  and  M.  Rouher 
258 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL    259 

to  submit.  But  an  appeal  to  law  was  repugnant 
to  him,  and  so  he  yielded  quietly  to  this  tyranny. 

M.  le  Comte  d'Herisson,  in  his  remarkable 
work  on  the  Prince  Imperial,  tells  us  that  the 
Empress  not  only  withheld  unjustly  sums  of 
money  which  belonged  to  her  son,  but  that 
after  her  husband's  death  she  destroyed  a  will 
which,  without  doubt,  gave  the  Prince  an 
independent  income.  This  is  a  grave  accusa- 
tion. But  if  the  attitude  of  the  Empress 
towards  her  son,  in  exile,  is  considered,  it 
seems  to  be  justifiable. 

To  the  everlasting  and  irritating  question  of 
money  was  added  incompatibility  of  character, 
of  ideas,  and  of  life ;  and  very  soon  between  the 
widowed  Empress  and  the  orphan  Prince  there 
was  an  intermittent  succession  of  disputes, 
worries,  and  annoyances,  which  rendered  hate- 
ful to  the  young  man  the  time  he  spent  under 
her  roof. 

He  only  had  a  little  peace  and  a  little  free- 
dom when  far  from  his  home,  at  Woolwich, 
where,  beloved  by  all,  he  loved  in  turn  all  those 
who  surrounded  him.  These  are  cruel  things 
to  say  ;  but  for  the  sake  of  history  they  must 
no  longer  be  kept  secret.  Those  who  loved  the 
Prince  Imperial,  Le  Petit  Prince  as  he  was 
always  called  in  France,  especially  by  the  peo- 


260  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

pie,  will  be  grateful  to  me  for  the  courage  it 
requires  to  divulge  this,  and  also  to  face  the 
animosity  it  will  naturally  provoke  against  me, 

Le  Petit  Prince  !  A  charming  name,  magic 
words,  which  set  all  hearts  vibrating,  like  the 
sound  of  a  bell,  with  affection  and  hope ;  to 
which  the  affection  of  mothers  and  sisters,  the 
enthusiasm  of  intelligent  French  youth,  even 
the  faith  of  the  little  children,  responded.  Le 
Petit  Prince !  At  the  very  sound  the  crowd 
would  clap  their  hands,  and  those  who  still  had 
ideals  would  uncover  their  heads. 

The  brief  life  of  this  unfortunate  and  Impe- 
rial child  is  outlined  in  the  memory  of  France. 

Everyone  who  has  been  at  Chiselhurst  will 
remember  the  Prince,  with  his  dignified  mien, 
manifesting  the  traditional,  but  only  apparent, 
coldness  of  the  English. 

But  does  France  know  him  as  a  child,  — 
young,  eager  for  life,  for  freedom,  and  for  love  } 

Some  time  ago  I  sketched  a  pen  portrait  of 
the  Prince  Imperial,  and  I  take  the  liberty 
of  reproducing  it  here  in  greater  detail. 

I  can  see  him  as  a  little  boy,  sometimes  in  a 
military  suit,  sometimes  in  a  close-fitting  jacket, 
his  head  erect,  with  a  large  turned-down  collar, 
his  limbs  straight  and  strong,  although  his 
physique  was  delicate. 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL.     26 1 

He  was  then  a  child  hke  any  child,  except 
for  a  natural  gravity  that  restrained  the  smile 
which  continually  played  about  his  lips. 

Still,  he  was  fond  of  fun,  and  seemed  to 
beckon  to  the  happy  years  to  release  him  from 
the  monotony  of  his  regulated  life ;  he  was 
kind-hearted  and  good-natured,  and  he  must 
have  suffered  keenly  when,  at  the  distribution 
of  prizes,  a  fellow  student  insulted  him. 

Later  he  had,  if  not  physical  beauty,  which 
is  almost  ridiculous  in  a  man,  the  noble  expres- 
sion which  is  the  stamp  of  intelligence.  From 
his  father  —  the  silent  dreamer  —  he  inherited 
a  meditative  and  reasoning  mind ;  from  his 
mother,  impetuous  blood,  courage,  and  an  ex- 
uberance of  life. 

A  blonde,  in  childhood  and  in  manhood  his 
stature  taller  than  the  average,  he  had  a  magnifi- 
cent appearance  ;  a  stranger  to  frivolity,  to  base 
pleasures,  to  fleeting  passion,  to  falsehood  ;  given 
up  entirely  to  his  ideals,  imbued  with  a  desire 
for  sacrifice,  and  burning  with  the  enthusiasm  his 
name  inspired,  he  lived  in  exile,  showing  to  the 
world,  to  the  society  of  idle  men  and  light 
women,  only  the  surface  of  his  nature ;  keeping 
within  his  bosom  the  heartbeats  of  his  better 
life,  the  noble  thoughts  which  lit  up  his  face. 
The  unknown  lay  before  him,  he  had  a  presenti- 


262  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

ment  of  it.  He  desired  its  approach,  he  asked 
for  its  revelation. 

To  France,  even  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire, 
he  still  remained  Le  Petit  Prince,  as  I  have 
said.  Was  it  not  appropriate,  was  it  not  pro- 
phetic, this  name,  prompted  by  affection,  link- 
ing him  with  those  whom  he  had  left  behind  .'* 
His  birth  had  touched  the  hearts  of  mothers, 
and  to  his  great  popularity  with  them  is  due 
that  sacred  memory  of  the  Prince  still  reli- 
giously guarded  in  France.  This  name,  Le 
Petit  Prince,  was  in  the  minds  and  on  the 
lips  of  the  people  like  a  touching  appeal,  like  a 
charming  and  beautiful  symbol,  like  a  fraternal 
reconciliation. 

Above  all  things,  the  Prince  Imperial  was 
French ;  and  on  the  subject  of  France  he 
brooked  no  argument.  He  would  willingly 
have  given  up  the  throne,  and  would  have  laid 
down  his  life  for  his  country. 

A  fever  for  revenge,  for  reconstruction,  ran 
in  his  veins,  and  he  was  indignant  when  our 
papers  unjustly  criticised  him. 

One  afternoon,  in  accompanying  the  Princess 
Beatrice  (rumour  said  she  was  engaged  to  him) 
through  one  of  the  galleries  of  the  Palace,  the 
young  girl  was  pointing  out  and  commentmg  on 
the  collection  of  portraits  of  her  ancestors,  when 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  THE  PRINCE  IMPERML    26^ 

the  Prince  smiled  sadly,  and  turning  round, 
lifted  his  finger  to  the  horizon,  saying, — 

"  I  also  have  an  ancestor  over  there.  He 
sleeps  under  a  dome,  surrounded  by  his  great 
marshals,  watched  over  by  simple  soldiers,  and 
guarded  by  a  nation." 

There  is  a  curious  incident  related  of  Prince 
Victor,  the  successor  of  Le  Petit  Prince,  which 
bears  some  resemblance  to  this  patriotic  out- 
burst. Prince  Victor,  speaking  of  his  family 
one  day,  used  this  phrase  in  the  presence  of 
two  of  his  friends,  MM,  B and  Hyrvoix, — 

"  Our  House  !  " 

As  the  meaning  of  his  words  was  rather 
dubious,  one  of  his  companions  put  the  interro- 
gation, — 

"  Our  House  ,•*  Of  what  House,  Monseigneur, 
are  you  speaking  .''  " 

"  Of  the  House  of  Savoy  !  "  answered  Prince 
Victor. 

Had  the  Prince  Imperial  been  the  son  of  a 
king's  daughter,  he  would  never  have  thought 
of  other  ancestors  than  those  whose  coat  of 
arms  and  name  he  bore. 

The  death  of  the  Prince  Imperial  was  brought 
about  by  the  same  catastrophe  which  killed  his 
father.  It  was  the  exile  that  extinguished  his 
fine  spirit  and  drove  him  to  his  untimely  end. 


264  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

Flying  from  the  oppression  of  the  Empress  at 
home,  from  the  moral  and  material  state  of 
things  in  which  he  moved,  a  sad,  morose  figure, 
his  environment  wholly  incompatible  with  his 
mental  and  physical  condition,  he  died,  in  the 
exuberance  of  youth,  with  the  longing  for  active 
life  strong  within  him. 

He  craved  for  more  air,  the  desire  of  his  eyes 
was  for  the  light  of  the  stars,  his  heart  yearned 
for  the  strong  and  gentle  warmth  of  an  intel- 
ligent affection ;  while  around  him  there  dwelt, 
as  it  were,  the  rarefied  air  of  a  pneumatic  ma- 
chine, the  dim  light  of  a  night-lamp,  the  icy 
expression  of  sentiments  wrapped  in  constraint 
and  solemnity. 

One  day,  as  M.  Pi^tri  and  Mme.  Le  Breton 
announced,  in  the  presence  of  the  Empress,  the 
visit  of  some  French  people,  he  could  not  re- 
strain his  joy ;  but  with  the  thoughtless  gaiety 
of  a  happy  child,  sprang  forward  and  clapped 
his  hands. 

The  Empress,  annoyed  at  this  outburst  of 
enthusiasm,  looked  grave. 

"  Well,  Louis,  what  are  you  doing } "  she 
scoldingly  said.  "  Remember  in  whose  pres- 
ence you  stand." 

The  Prince  then  became  a  Prince  again.  So 
was  it  every  day.     All  youthful  gaiety,  all  gen- 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL.     26$ 

erosity  of  thought,  of  feeling,  were  unconsciously 
crushed  out  of  him. 

The  Prince  had  tried  to  arrange  a  corner 
entirely  for  himself  in  his  mother's  house.  He 
had  tried  to  graft,  on  the  miserable  existence 
which  had  been  made  for  him,  an  existence 
of  his  own,  which  he  might  be  at  liberty  to  en- 
joy. Compelled  to  attend  the  family  reunions, 
he  followed  the  wishes  of  the  Empress  in  this 
respect ;  but  in  reality  he  isolated  himself,  flee- 
ing in  thought  from  the  many  distasteful 
subjects  discussed.  He  would  go  far,  very  far, 
sometimes,  led  by  his  visionary  mind,  into  the 
country  of  dreams,  where  men  hope  largely  and 
breathe  freely ;  where  they  fight,  where  they 
love, — and  die!  For  death,  to  his  eyes,  was 
sweeter  than  that  effeminate  life,  where  he  was  a 
stranger  to  all  that  human  intercourse  and  wide 
experience  his  soul  longed  for. 

In  spite,  however,  of  all  the  efforts  of  his 
imagination,  he  remained  under  the  authority 
of  his  mother.  He  was  obliged,  willingly  or 
unwillingly,  to  be  buried  with  her  in  the  empti- 
ness of  life  which  every  day  yawned  ghastlier 
under  her  feet  ;  he  was  compelled  to  let  the 
dark  shadow  come  between  himself  and  the 
sun  ;  the  ingulfing  darkness  crushing  him  with 
its  cold  hand,  blinding  his  eyes,  annihilating  his 


266  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

faculties.  And  so  there  was  a  falling-ofF  of  his 
friends,  a  loosening  of  his  ideas,  an  enervation  of 
the  whole  body.  Desperate,  alone,  feeling  that 
he  was  buried,  the  Prince  dreaded  his  mother. 
There  were  endless  recriminations  and  explana- 
tions between  them.  She  exhorted  him  as  if  he 
were  a  girl  ;  she  lectured  him  in  the  manner 
and  language  of  a  father  confessor.  The  young 
man  could  scarce  bear  these  childish  remon- 
strances ;  but,  having  respect  for  his  mother,  he 
endured  them  with  apparent  submission.  Weary 
and  sick  at  heart,  his  hours  dragged  like  the 
ball  and  chain  of  a  condemned  man,  only  taking 
heart  a  little  when  away  from  home  —  a  home 
on  whose  hearthstone  burned  no  flame,  for  it 
was  desolate  and  filled  with  dead  ashes.  The 
lack  of  money  on  the  one  hand,  the  dearth  of 
his  home  life  and  the  tyranny  of  the  Empress 
on  the  other,  together  with  the  insults  which 
were  heaped  on  him  by  France  —  such  are  the 
causes  which  determined  the  young  Prince  Im- 
perial to  leave  for  Zululand.  It  is  vain  to  seek 
for  other  motives  to  explain  his  fatal  resolution. 
When  the  Prince  Imperial  took  his  departure, 
a  touching  manifestation  of  feeling  was  shown 
him.  Forty  young  P^renchmen  offered  their 
services  as  a  guard  of  honour.  Gloomy  forebod- 
ings must  have  stirred  these  young  hearts,  and 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL.     26/ 

they  were  ready  to  die  with  the  young  Prince,  if 
death  lay  in  wait  for  him.  But  their  courage, 
their  desire,  their  expression  of  generous  senti- 
ments, were  thrown  away.  The  Empress  would 
not  accept  their  services.  "  No,"  she  said  em- 
phatically, "  no  one  shall  accompany  my  son.  He 
has  assumed  the  garb  of  a  soldier.  He  shall 
do  as  other  soldiers  do.  He  must  go  forth  to 
the  field  of  battle  mingling  with  the  rank  and 
file  ;  equally  protected,  nothing  more. 

Unfortunately  this  wish,  which  was  tanta- 
mount to  an  order,  was  granted.  The  sequence 
is  known. 

Yes,  the  sequence  is  known  ;  but  this  does 
not  prevent  M.  Prudhomme  declaiming,  as  he 
sits  by  his  fire,  his  slippered  feet  on  the  fender, 
that  there  are  no  more  tragedies  to-day  ! 

After  the  martyrdom  of  Le  Petit  Prince 
some  Zulus  were  exhibited  in  Paris.  He  went 
to  see  them.  And  for  forty  cents,  on  a  stage 
before  the  footlights,  between  two  clowneries,  — 
O  misery  !  —  he  saw  how  the  young  Prince  was 
killed ! 

M.  Prudhomme,  to-morrow,  will  do  for  another 
Prince  or  pauper  what  he  did  for  the  Prince 
Imperial.  F"or  the  sum  of  forty  cents,  through 
the  illustrated  papers,  he  will  inform  himself  of 
events,  and  he  will  go  to  sleep  in  a  perfect  tran- 


268  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

qiiillity  of  mind  which  will  breed  foolishness,  and 
which  will  turn  to  malice,  to  bad  faith.  Let 
him  mock  grossly  those  who  know  how  to  suf- 
fer, yes,  and  to  die,  it  makes  no  difference. 

M.  Prudhomme  cannot  destroy  the  sad,  sweet 
impression  which  the  death  of  the  young  Prince 
has  left  with  the  people.  He  will  not  succeed 
in  provoking  the  criticism  of  men  at  the  sound 
of  that  sacred  name  —  men  who  have  hearts 
and  souls,  whatever  party  they  belong  to  or 
whatever  their  opinions. 

Le  Petit  Prince !  Ah  !  young  blond  head, 
it  would  seem  as  if  there  hovered  about  you  an 
indistinct  murmur  of  appealing  hope !  —  as  if 
about  you  there  were  the  sound  of  a  reveille 
which  suddenly  burst  forth  like  the  magic 
awakener  of  a  youthful  host  carried  away  with 
art,  literature,  and  liberty,  or  like  birds  tired 
with  their  long  flight,  welcoming  the  sight  of  a 
hospitable  belfry  tower. 

When  the  remains  of  the  poor  boy  were 
brought  home,  and  the  lid  which  hid  them  from 
view  was  lifted,  those  present  were  stupefied 
with  despair,  doubt,  and  hope  ! 

The  Prince,  lying  in  his  coflfin,  was  not  recog- 
nisable ;  it  was  declared  unanimously  that  this 
was  not  he  whom  they  had  loved.  Was  it  pos- 
sible that  some  mistake  had  been  made  .'* 


THE  EMPRESS  AND  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL    269 

This  hope  was  but  of  short  duration.  Dr. 
Evans,  the  same  at  whose  house  the  Empress 
had  taken  refuge  on  the  Fourth  of  September 
after  her  flight  from  the  Tuileries,  and  who  was 
present  on  this  sad  occasion,  put  an  end  to  all 
doubt  by  affirming,  after  carefully  examining 
the  mouth  of  the  dead  man,  that  he  recognised 
a  tooth  which  he  had  himself  medicated  before 
the  Prince  departed  for  Zululand. 

On  the  day  of  the  funeral,  several  ladies  were 
assembled  in  a  little  parlour  adjoining  the  ora- 
tory of  the  Empress,  Mme.  Breton  being  also 
present,  when  a  chamberlain  came  to  say  that 
the  Empress  wanted  to  see  the  latter. 

Mme.  Breton  arose  and,  turning  toward  her 
guests,  said  :  — 

"  I  beg  you  will  pardon  me  for  leaving  you, 
ladies  ;  but  the  Empress  has  sent  for  me  to  read 
her  customary  prayers.  It  is  four  o'clock  and  I 
am  late,"  —  and  she  disappeared. 

Is  not  this  a  human  document  ?  And  what 
shall  we  say  of  this  prayer,  remembered  at  such 
a  time  .-*  What  shall  we  think  of  her  who  de- 
manded it  1 

Alas  !  I  have  already  said,  the  Empress  was 
thoughtless  in  her  joys  as  in  her  sorrows.  She 
was  a  cruel  fatality  that  laid  low  powerful  Em- 
pires.    In  the  worldly  and  political  whirl  of  the 


270  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 

reign  of  Napoleon  III.,  a  charming'and  mirthful 
figure,  ringing  with  laughter,  a  modern  deity, 
she  walked  unmoved  like  the  pagan  divinity  of 
old,  leaying  nothingness  wherever  her  shadow 
passed. 

The  woes  which  she  has  sown  have  caused 
her  tears  to  flow ;  the  despair  and  sorrow  which 
she  has  caused  have  also  brought  her  suffering. 
And  in  the  presence  of  her  distress,  doubtless 
it  would  be  generous  to  be  silent.  But  as  in 
the  presence  of  the  corpse  of  her  son  she 
claimed  her  accustomed  prayer,  so  in  the  pres- 
ence of  her  ruin  History  claims  her.  And 
History,  in  the  presence  of  victors  as  in  the 
presence  of  the  vanquished  in  life,  stands  also 
unmoved,  impartial,  and  serene. 


U3 


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